Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, the National Energy Administration and other four departments jointly issued the "Implementation Plan for the High-quality Development of Energy-saving Equipment (2026-2028)" (Ministry of Industry and Information Technology Lianjie [2026] No. 44, hereinafter referred to as the "Implementation Plan") to continue to improve the energy efficiency level of energy-saving equipment with strong versatility, large energy consumption and outstanding development prospects, and strengthen the supply and application of energy-saving equipment.
The Energy Conservation Law of the People's Republic of China proposes that the state encourages industrial enterprises to use high-efficiency and energy-saving electric motors, boilers, kilns, fans, pumps and other equipment. The "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Accelerating the Comprehensive Green Transformation of Economic and Social Development" proposes to promote energy-saving, low-carbon and clean production technology and equipment, promote energy-saving and carbon-reducing transformation of key industries, and accelerate the upgrading of equipment and products. Energy-saving equipment refers to products and equipment designed and manufactured with advanced technology in all aspects of production and use of energy, which can improve energy utilization efficiency and reduce energy consumption and loss. Accelerating the high-quality development of energy-saving equipment is an important measure to promote the improvement of industrial energy utilization efficiency and achieve the goal of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, an important direction for cultivating new momentum for green development and forging new competitive advantages in the industry, and an important foundation for supporting the growth demand of energy consumption in the whole society and ensuring national energy security.
The "Implementation Plan" focuses on six types of energy-saving equipment, including energy-saving motors, transformers, industrial heat pumps, industrial refrigeration (heating) and heating equipment, water electrolysis hydrogen production equipment, and information and communication equipment, and proposes to promote energy conservation and carbon reduction in key industries and fields. By 2028, breakthroughs will be made in key materials and components of energy-saving equipment, the matching of energy systems and actual operating efficiency in key industries will continue to improve, the energy efficiency level of energy-saving equipment such as motors and transformers will reach the international lead, and the market share of energy-saving equipment will be further improved.
The "Implementation Plan" systematically makes work arrangements from accelerating the research and development and promotion of advanced energy-saving equipment, expanding the green and low-carbon supply of energy-saving equipment, strengthening the coupling and matching of energy-saving equipment systems, and promoting the digital improvement of energy-saving equipment. It is required to accelerate the research and development of new materials, new components and new products that meet market demand and have outstanding energy-saving effects for energy-saving equipment with higher efficiency and higher performance, promote the construction of a large model of equipment energy conservation and carbon reduction, promote the application of artificial intelligence empowered energy-saving equipment, and strive to improve the operation efficiency of energy-consuming equipment systems in key industries and fields, so as to realize the transformation of industrial energy conservation to energy conservation in the whole process system. At the same time, specific work measures to build a healthy development environment for the industry are put forward from three aspects: accelerating the renewal and transformation of energy-saving equipment, improving the standard system of energy-saving equipment, and strengthening the overall coordination of industrial development.
The release of the "Implementation Plan" will effectively promote the high-quality development of energy-saving equipment, provide key equipment support for higher levels and higher quality energy conservation and carbon reduction, accelerate the promotion of new industrialization, and achieve the goal of carbon peak and carbon neutrality.
Implementation Plan for the High-quality Development of Energy-saving Equipment (2026-2028)
Energy-saving equipment refers to products and equipment designed and manufactured with advanced technology in all aspects of production and use of energy, which can improve energy utilization efficiency and reduce energy consumption and loss. Accelerating the high-quality development of energy-saving equipment is an important measure to promote the improvement of industrial energy utilization efficiency and achieve the goal of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, an important direction for cultivating new momentum for green development and forging new competitive advantages in the industry, and an important foundation for supporting the growth demand of energy consumption in the whole society and ensuring national energy security. In order to implement the "Notice of the General Office of the State Council on Printing and Distributing the Action Plan for Green and Low-carbon Development of the Manufacturing Industry (2025-2027)", continue to improve the energy efficiency level of energy-saving equipment with strong versatility, large energy consumption and outstanding development prospects, and strengthen the supply and application of energy-saving equipment, this plan is formulated.
1. General requirements
Adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the 20th Plenary Session of the Communist Party of China, fully implement Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, fully and accurately implement the new development concept, and consistently adhere to the priority policy of conservation, with the goal of promoting energy conservation and carbon reduction in key industries, with the optimization and improvement of energy consumption system as the main direction, with the research and development and application of advanced technology and equipment as the main starting point, and with green design and manufacturing, equipment renewal and transformation, and artificial intelligence empowerment as the path. Promote the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation, build a green and low-carbon supply chain, accelerate the intelligent, green and integrated development of energy-saving equipment, do a good job in energy conservation and carbon reduction at a higher level and higher quality, accelerate the promotion of new industrialization, and provide key equipment support for carbon peak and carbon neutrality.
By 2028, breakthroughs will be made in key materials and components of energy-saving equipment, the matching of energy systems and actual operating efficiency in key industries will continue to improve, and the energy efficiency level of energy-saving equipment such as motors and transformers will reach the international lead. The market share of energy-saving equipment has been further increased. Promote a number of advanced and applicable energy-saving equipment renewal system solutions, create a number of application scenarios of artificial intelligence-enabled energy-saving equipment, and cultivate a number of internationally competitive energy-saving equipment backbone enterprises and industrial clusters.
2. Accelerate the research and development and promotion of advanced energy-saving equipment
(1) Motors, fans, pumps, compressors and other load equipment.
Promote the research and development and upgrading of basic materials and core components required for super-level 1 energy efficiency and wide-area high-efficiency motors, and accelerate the promotion and application of high-efficiency and energy-saving asynchronous motors, wide-area permanent magnet motors, direct drive motors, magnetic levitation motors, and high-precision industrial servo motors. For specific working conditions such as ultra-low speed, ultra-high speed, frequent load variability, high response speed, low speed and large torque, and large inertia load start, energy-saving motors with strong applicability and high matching are developed. Continue to strengthen the pneumatic design and flow channel optimization of impellers of energy-saving fans, pumps, compressors and other load equipment to improve the aerodynamic efficiency of load equipment and reduce inflow losses. Promote magnetic levitation, air suspension compressors and fans, as well as oil-free permanent magnet direct drive pumps, magnetic levitation vacuum pumps, etc. By 2028, the proportion of new energy-saving motors, fans, pumps, and compressors will reach 35%, and the proportion of energy-saving motors, fans, pumps, and compressors in service will exceed 15%.
(2) Transformers. Promote the research and development and upgrading of key materials and core components such as silicon steel sheets, amorphous alloy strips, highly conductive materials, and high-performance insulation materials required for super-level 1 energy efficiency transformers, and accelerate the promotion and application of high-efficiency silicon steel three-dimensional coiled core transformers, large-capacity and high-efficiency amorphous alloy three-dimensional coiled core transformers, environmentally friendly insulating oil transformers, large-capacity solid-state transformers, and flexible DC transformers. Improve the energy efficiency and system adaptability of transformers in new energy fields such as wind power, photovoltaics, hydrogen energy, and new energy storage. Encourage power grid enterprises and new energy enterprises to carry out energy-saving and carbon reduction diagnosis of in-service transformers. By 2028, new energy-saving transformers will account for more than 75%, and in-service energy-saving transformers will account for 15%.
(3) Industrial heat pump. Improve the supply level of high-power, high-efficiency and high-temperature heat pumps in the industrial field, and improve the performance and energy efficiency of heat pump products through process innovation, component integration, and intelligent production. Accelerate the research and development of transcritical carbon dioxide (CO2) heat pumps, high-power high-temperature heat pumps, industrial steam heat pumps, and hot and cold homologous heat pumps, and promote key technologies such as new low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants, high-temperature compressors based on natural working fluids, high-efficiency water vapor compressors, low-cost and high-efficiency expansion devices, and new high-efficiency heat exchangers. Encourage qualified industrial enterprises and parks to use industrial heat pumps to recycle industrial wastewater, waste gas and other waste heat resources to prepare high-temperature hot air, hot water or steam according to heat demand, waste heat recovery feasibility, process substitution, etc. By 2028, the energy efficiency level of heat pump products will increase by more than 10% compared with 2025.
(4) Industrial refrigeration (heat) and heating equipment. Improve the supply level of wide-area high-efficiency industrial refrigeration (heating) equipment, and accelerate the promotion and application of oil-free chillers, high-power and high-efficiency inverter refrigeration units, DC variable speed multi-unit units, and condensing heat recovery units. Accelerate the promotion and application of high-power electric heat storage equipment, vacuum heat treatment equipment, laser heat treatment equipment, superconducting induction heating devices, insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) induction electric furnaces, DC electric arc furnaces, DC plasma heating devices, heat pump drying, vacuum drying and other heating equipment. By 2028, the proportion of new energy-saving industrial refrigeration (heating) and heating equipment will reach 45%, and the proportion of energy-saving industrial refrigeration (heating) and heating equipment in service will reach 25%.
(5) Water electrolysis hydrogen production equipment. Encourage enterprises to develop high-efficiency, low-cost, and high-performance water electrolysis hydrogen production equipment. Promote the upgrading of basic materials such as electrodes and diaphragms, develop new electrode matrix materials and structures, improve the electrochemical active area and mass transfer efficiency, break through the preparation process of long-life anti-corrosion electrodes, and continue to tackle low-cost, high-conductivity, and high-stability membrane materials. Optimize the design of the internal flow field, heat field, electric field, and pressure field of the electrolyzer, improve the uniformity of equipment, and develop advanced durable sealing structures and materials. Continue to improve the electrolysis efficiency of alkaline and proton exchange membrane electrolyzers, and develop and apply high-response, wide-load, non-precious metal catalytic anion exchange membrane electrolyzers. By 2028, the DC power consumption of mass-produced water electrolysis hydrogen production equipment will be less than 4.2kWh/Nm³ under rated working conditions.
(6) Information and communication equipment. Promote the development of chip architecture in the direction of heterogeneous multi-core collaboration and improve the energy efficiency of multi-task parallel processing. Encourage the development and deployment of high-density servers, liquid-cooled servers, and liquid-cooled switches to improve the efficiency of power supply and cooling systems. Accelerate the promotion and application of high-efficiency power amplifiers, high-voltage DC power supply, high-efficiency uninterruptible power supply systems (UPS), high-efficiency safety batteries and other technical products, as well as high-efficiency inverter air conditioners, natural cold source air conditioners, dry and wet composite air conditioners, multi-gradient cooling air conditioners and other cooling equipment. Encourage enterprises to carry out product selection based on energy efficiency testing and verification in the construction planning process, and give priority to high-performance and low-power equipment. By 2028, more than 80% of new servers in the information and communication field will reach energy efficiency level 2 and above.
3. Expand the green and low-carbon supply of energy-saving equipment
(7) Strengthen green and low-carbon product design and manufacturing. Promote the concept of green and low-carbon design, and promote the green and low-carbon design of energy-saving equipment throughout the life cycle. Strengthen lightweight design, give priority to the use of recyclable materials, improve the utilization rate of green and low-carbon materials, reduce the use of virgin materials at the source, and reduce the carbon footprint of products. For casting, machining, welding, painting, heat treatment, electroplating and other links, promote green process technologies such as precision casting, additive manufacturing, near-net forming, laser surface modification, dry cutting, low-temperature plasma cleaning, nano composite brush plating, thermal spraying, and micro-arc oxidation to improve the level of green manufacturing.
(8) Strengthen the recycling and disposal of waste equipment. Strengthen the connection between supply and demand for the recycling and disposal of waste energy-saving equipment, and guide key enterprises in the industry to apply 5G, Internet of Things, blockchain and other technologies to explore the construction of an information traceability system for retired waste equipment. Encourage equipment use enterprises to standardize the decommissioning and disposal process, clarify scrapping standards, carry out scrapping screening of retired equipment in a timely manner, and improve the efficiency of retired asset disposal. Encourage the inspection, refurbishment, disassembly and maintenance of IT equipment, communication equipment and their spare parts.
4. Strengthen the coupling and matching of energy-saving equipment systems
(9) Strengthen the coupling and matching between equipment and equipment. Explore the establishment of a wide-area and efficient performance evaluation system for energy-saving equipment under actual variable load operating conditions, promote the accurate matching of energy-saving equipment with its load equipment, operating conditions, and energy-using systems (including auxiliary equipment, etc.), reduce the capacity, structure, and interface redundancy between the drive and the load, and avoid the situation of "big horse-drawn carts". Improve the matching level of motors with their variable speed, transmission, load and other equipment, and encourage fans, pumps, compressors and industrial heat pumps to adopt frequency conversion and speed regulation and other technologies to carry out matching transformation and upgrading. Encourage computing power facilities and communication base stations to introduce integrated and modular power supply system deployment and centralized cooling architecture, promote the use of unified interface standards for system integration between main equipment and auxiliary equipment, realize the coordination of energy-saving characteristics of network equipment and terminal equipment, and build a green network with end-network collaboration and two-way empowerment.
(10) Strengthen the coupling and matching between equipment and scenes. Facing the development needs of key energy-consuming industries and emerging industries, we will develop key energy-saving equipment and integrated system solutions adapted to scenarios. Develop special energy-saving equipment for emerging application scenarios such as renewable energy power generation, new energy vehicles, large-scale hydrogen production, storage and transportation, aerospace, biomedicine, and carbon dioxide capture and storage. For areas rich in natural cooling sources and wind and solar resources, encourage the construction of natural cooling systems and renewable energy power generation to improve the green development level of information and communication infrastructure. In response to the low-carbon and zero-carbon demand of the thermal system, breakthroughs are made in technologies such as long-distance low-cost heat transmission, cross-seasonal large-scale heat storage, and thermoelectric collaboration, and support peak shaving and valley filling and green power consumption in the power system.
5. Promote the digital improvement of energy-saving equipment
(11) Build a large model of equipment energy conservation and carbon reduction. Encourage real-time collection of real-time operating parameters of various energy-saving equipment such as current/voltage, rotational speed, temperature and humidity, pressure, and flow rate through Internet of Things (IoT) sensors. Combined with network topology technology, break through data barriers such as equipment, network, energy consumption, load, and process parameters, and promote the construction of multi-modal, high-precision high-quality data sets. Based on the characteristics of the dataset, model infrastructure selection and model training and tuning, after testing the model capabilities, the production environment deployment and continuous update and iteration are carried out, and a large model with multi-modal data extraction and analysis of energy-saving equipment, intelligent Q&A of energy-saving strategies, continuous learning of energy-saving equipment knowledge, and convenient human-computer interaction is built.
(12) Innovate and develop high-efficiency and energy-saving intelligent equipment. Accelerate the application of advanced technologies such as simulation software, virtual reality, and digital twins to improve the intelligent level of energy-saving equipment design and manufacturing. Promote intelligent equipment such as intelligent motors, intelligent transformers, intelligent antennas, and smart power cabinets, and realize real-time collection and processing of equipment operation data by configuring intelligent sensors, intelligent controllers, intelligent algorithms, etc. Promote the deep integration of edge computing capabilities and efficient intelligent equipment, apply appropriate algorithm models and network technologies to realize real-time analysis of energy consumption data on the edge node side and support real-time communication protocols. Explore the application of embodied intelligent technology to give energy-saving equipment the ability to perceive, operate and interact, and improve the adaptation and understanding of energy-saving equipment to environmental changes.
(13) Promote the application of artificial intelligence-enabled energy-saving equipment. Promote the integration and collaboration of energy-saving equipment and intelligent platforms, and realize the linkage between hardware perception and execution carriers and software optimization energy-saving strategies based on digital energy and carbon management centers and big data platforms. Integrate artificial intelligence, 5G, industrial Internet and other technologies to promote the joint optimization of energy-saving equipment related systems and promote integrated intelligent operation and maintenance management. Focusing on new high-energy application scenarios such as large model training, multi-objective optimization algorithms are applied to achieve dynamic matching of the best energy-saving strategies based on business scenarios. Promote accurate measurement, refined control and intelligent decision-making of energy consumption and carbon emission data. Promote the informatization of energy-saving equipment and energy-saving statistics platform based on identification and analysis to realize intelligent statistical monitoring of equipment operation.
6. Build a healthy industrial development environment
(14) Accelerate the renewal and transformation of energy-saving equipment. Coordinate the use of existing capital channels and methods such as "unveiling the list and taking the lead" to support the research and industrial application of key common technologies of energy-saving equipment. Promote enterprises to carry out energy conservation and carbon reduction diagnosis of main energy-using equipment that has been in operation for more than 10 years, comprehensively evaluate the energy efficiency level, and formulate renewal and transformation plans based on the diagnosis results. Encourage the priority to select technical equipment such as the recommended catalog of national energy-saving and carbon-reduction technology and equipment in the field of industry and information technology. Implement tax policies such as energy-saving and water-saving special products and equipment and project enterprise income tax incentives, actively guide financial institutions to increase credit support, and support enterprises to implement energy-saving equipment renewal and transformation.
(15) Improve the standard system of energy-saving equipment. Strictly implement the mandatory national standards for energy efficiency of key energy-consuming equipment such as motors, transformers, fans, pumps, and compressors, formulate and revise mandatory national standards for energy efficiency of industrial heat pumps, heating equipment, water electrolysis hydrogen production equipment, communication base stations, computing power facilities and other products, and continue to improve the requirements of energy efficiency indicators. Improve the standard system of the whole industry chain such as green and low-carbon design, manufacturing, testing, operation and maintenance of energy-saving equipment, and promote the formulation of carbon footprint accounting rules and standards for energy-saving equipment. In accordance with mandatory national standards for energy efficiency, we will continue to organize special energy-saving monitoring of key energy-using equipment.
（十六）加强产业发展统筹协调。鼓励有条件的地区出台配套支持政策，引导推动节能装备高质量发展。充分发挥相关高校、科研机构、专业智库作用，开展节能装备相关前瞻性、战略性重大问题研究。鼓励相关行业组织发挥桥梁纽带作用，加强节能装备政策宣贯、产品推广、供需对接、技术交流、决策支撑和企业服务等。探索建立节能装备用户评价机制，鼓励用户企业在采购中综合考量性能、能耗、寿命、运维等指标，引导优质优价采购。