New Energy Research Institute · Songshan Lake

Institute of New Energy, Dongguan

东莞新能源研究院

A base-type research institute jointly founded by the Dongguan Municipal Government, the Institute of Engineering Thermophysics (CAS) and Dongguan University of Technology — turning frontier energy science into pilot platforms and industry across the Greater Bay Area.

  • Established Aug 2021
  • Tripartite co-founding
  • Carbon-peak & carbon-neutrality mission
Explore our research Get in touch
2021Founded (August)
3+1R&D + service centers
45+Academic & industry exchanges
800+Participants reached
13Platform & research qualifications

Part I · Overview

A world-class platform where government, academy and industry meet

Officially established in August 2021, the Institute of New Energy, Dongguan is a high-level zero-carbon technology platform and a key project of Songshan Lake Science City — created to deliver strategic, high-tech and applied R&D for new energy and to implement China's carbon-peak and carbon-neutrality goals.

Tripartite co-founding

  • Dongguan Municipal People's Government Policy alignment, dual-carbon support and city-scale demand
  • Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, CAS National research strength in engineering thermophysics
  • Dongguan University of Technology Talent pipeline and joint discipline construction

Four mandates

  • Base-type research institute

    Strategic high-tech and applied R&D for new energy on a national-level platform.

  • World-class research institution

    Addressing major demands by integrating industry, academia and research.

  • Industrialization platform

    Driving new-energy industry development across the Greater Bay Area.

  • Dual-carbon think tank

    Intellectual support for government decisions, industry transformation and green growth.

Leadership

Jin Hongguang Academician

Chairman, Institute of New Energy, Dongguan · Deputy Director, IET, CAS · Laboratory Director.

Sui Jun Researcher

Director, Institute of New Energy, Dongguan · Deputy Director, IET, CAS.

Part II · R&D directions

A “3 + 1” research architecture

Three technology R&D centers tackle the core science of clean energy, while one technology service center turns results into strategy, certification and consulting for the dual-carbon transition.

R&D Center

Distributed Energy

  • Modular integration technology
  • Heat pump / refrigeration / dehumidification
  • Hybrid power technology
R&D Center

Hydrogen Energy & Storage

  • Natural-gas / methanol hydrogen production
  • Hydrogen & hydrogen-rich power
  • Energy-storage technology
R&D Center

Renewable Energy Utilization

  • Solar thermal & thermochemical conversion
  • Wind energy utilization
  • Biomass conversion & utilization
+1 · Service Center

Dual Carbon

  • Strategy, planning & policy research
  • Carbon audit, certification & trading
  • Technical consulting & promotion

Flagship technologies

From the lab to the field — with the numbers to prove it

A selection of the institute's core technologies, each carried through the full chain from materials to units to integrated systems.

Modular distributed energy supply

Efficient, low-loss cooling, heating and power for parks, islands and temporary users.

Energy saving
>30%
Utilization
>85%
Carbon cut
>40%

Multi-energy heat–power–storage integration

Household-scale modular CHP for low-latitude and Belt & Road regions.

PV/thermal eff.
>25%
CO₂ reduction
>85%
Heating cost
−50%

Ultra-high-temperature heat pump

Mechanical-compression heat pump for paper, heavy-oil, chemical and textile heat.

Saturated steam
>260°C
COP
≥1.50
Power
≥100 kW

Composite phase-change cold storage

High-density cold storage for buildings, data-center chip cooling and renewables.

Density
>200 MJ/m³
Efficiency
>80%
Cycles
>5,000

Chemical-looping hydrogen & decarbonization

Low-temperature hydrogen from natural gas, biogas and chemical tail gas.

Reaction temp.
600°C
Energy use
−15–20%
CO₂ capture
>90%

Biomass chemicals & eco-fertilizer

Fatty-acid amides, levulinic acid, bio-adhesives and low-carbon fertilizers.

Curing rate
>70%
Carbon cut
≥2 kg/kg
Inputs
Renewable

Pilot platforms & industrialization

Proven at pilot scale — and built into real projects

Multi-energy complementary pilot platform

Approved among Dongguan's first key cultivation pilot platforms and launched in 2024 at Wanrong Intelligent Manufacturing Park, Liaobu Town. Across 3,700 m² it validates phase-change cold-storage lines, high-temperature heat pumps, chemical-looping hydrogen and integrated distributed-energy systems — scaling lab processes through technology verification, process scale-up, quality control and demonstration.

  • 40,000-refrigeration-ton/yr cold-storage line, modularly expandable 10×
  • MW-scale modular distributed energy demonstration (>95% of building load)

Industrialization & spin-offs

Technology is commercialized through the platform company Guoyuan New Energy Technology (Guangdong) Co., Ltd. and incubated ventures, via equity valuation, transfer or licensing.

  • Biotech-park energy station~10 MW supply · payback ≈ 7.2 yrs
  • Shengli Oilfield multi-energy supplyup to 56% carbon reduction
  • Dongguan data-center energy project~¥1 billion investment

Science–education integration

Training the next generation of energy scientists

In deep partnership with Dongguan University of Technology, the institute builds discipline clusters, shared laboratories and industry-driven training for graduate and undergraduate researchers.

“Wu Zhonghua Class”

Co-established with IET, CAS. Academician Jin Hongguang delivered the inaugural opening class in October 2024, with institute mentors teaching multi-energy distributed-energy technology to the first cohort.

Provincial Key Laboratory

Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Multi-Energy Complementary Distributed Energy Systems — focused on distributed energy, hydrogen & storage and renewable energy.

Joint talent training

Partnerships with 8 universities including UCAS and USTC; dual mentorship, shared platforms and industry projects training doctoral, master's and undergraduate students.

8partner universities
19+doctoral & master's trained
14master's with DGUT
2022joint training since

Get in touch

Let's build the dual-carbon future together

We welcome collaboration with enterprises, research partners and government on new-energy technology, pilot demonstration and industrialization.

  • Address
    Building A4, Songshan Lake International Innovation & Entrepreneurship Community, Dongguan, Guangdong, China