‌Sitech Electric and Xi'an Jiaotong University Unveil Joint Research Institute to Advance Digital Intelligent Power Equipment Technologies

Release time:

2025-06-08

Key words:

‌Xi'an, China – June 2025‌ – At a critical juncture in the deepening construction of the new power system, Xi'an Sitech Electric Co., Ltd. (Sitech Electric) and Xi'an Jiaotong University (XJTU) have joined forces to establish the "Digital Intelligent Power Equipment Industry Technology Joint Research Institute." Unveiled in June 2025, this collaboration signifies a new stage of deep synergistic innovation in the power and energy sector, injecting strong impetus into the exploration and development of cutting-edge technologies such as opto-electronic integration and the convergence of power electronics and energy information.

As a leading enterprise in the power energy industry, Sitech Electric brings nearly two decades of industry experience, robust R&D capabilities, and extensive customer resources. Xi'an Jiaotong University, one of China's earliest established and internationally renowned institutions of higher education, hosts the School of Electrical Engineering – the birthplace of electrical engineering education in China. Its core discipline, Electrical Engineering, is rated as a top-tier A+ discipline under national priority development, selected for the "World-Class Discipline" initiative, and boasts formidable research strength and pioneering achievements in the power field.

This partnership stems from both parties' insights into industry trends and pursuit of technological innovation. It aims to integrate industrial and academic strengths, enabling resource sharing and complementarity to tackle key technological challenges, accelerate the transformation and application of research outcomes, and provide sustained support and momentum for industry advancement.

‌1. Research Focus & Collaboration Model: Pioneering a New Paradigm for Synergy

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‌Pushing the Frontiers of Energy Technology:‌ The Joint Research Institute will spearhead breakthroughs at the forefront of energy science and technology.
‌Integrated Industry-Academia-Research-Application Model:‌ To ensure the smooth progress of innovative research, the Institute will build an integrated "industry-academia-research-application" platform closely aligned with industrial demands.
‌Co-creating a New Model for Collaborative Development:‌ Leveraging a joint office mechanism, the Institute will be led by expert professors from various XJTU disciplines, involving doctoral and graduate students. It will deeply engage with power enterprises, government departments, and research institutions to precisely identify local industrial needs. Guided by solving real-world problems and serving market demands, it fosters a collaborative innovation model characterized by "demand sourced from enterprises, talent and resource sharing, joint thematic R&D, and application of results in production." By establishing an efficient and interconnected platform for scientific collaboration, the Institute will drive resource integration and complementary advantages, ultimately forming an ecosystem of integrated innovation to provide solid support for the high-quality development of the power energy industry.

Looking towards 2025, Sitech Electric reaffirms its commitment to the spirit of scientific innovation, continuously deepening its presence in the power energy sector. The company actively explores new technological pathways to accelerate the evolution of energy systems towards greater intelligence, decarbonization, and efficiency. Establishing the Joint Research Institute with Xi'an Jiaotong University marks a significant step forward in industry-academia-research collaborative innovation.

‌2. Core Research Areas: Driving Breakthroughs‌

The Joint Research Institute will leverage the combined industrial strengths, practical experience, and exceptional research capabilities of both parties to focus on two key frontiers:

‌1. Opto-electronic Integration Technology Research:‌
The Institute will prioritize research on efficient synergistic mechanisms between optics and electricity at the material, device, and system levels. Key breakthroughs will be pursued in critical technologies for power equipment operation & maintenance monitoring, power system fault diagnosis, and energy industry innovation. Specific research directions include transformer insulating oil quality analysis based on optical technologies and reliability evaluation of Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS) monitoring sensors. Concurrently, the Institute will explore the application of optoelectronic devices in smart grid sensing and monitoring, enhancing the stability and intelligence of power system operations.

‌2. Power Electronics Technology and Energy-Information Convergence Innovation:‌
Leveraging Sitech Electric's deep domain expertise across diverse energy scenarios and Xi'an Jiaotong University's profound electrical engineering foundation, research will focus on park-level microgrids and building-level multi-port energy converter configurations. By integrating big data, cloud computing, and IoT technologies, the Institute aims to build an energy internet platform enabling real-time monitoring, fault diagnosis, and intelligent control of energy equipment and flexible load devices. This will underpin optimized system dispatch and intelligent operation & maintenance, laying the groundwork for energy collaborative control at the virtual power plant user end.

‌Specific Solution for Building-Level Energy:‌ Addressing the demand for multi-energy complementarity in buildings and complex energy scenarios, the Institute proposes a novel energy converter solution based on multi-port topological reconfiguration technology. This forms a three-tier smart energy management architecture ("User + Building Cluster + Microgrid") comprising physical, control, and information layers. This architecture achieves efficient energy synergy, flexibly adapting to complex and variable energy demands while reducing the complexity and cost of traditional distributed multi-DC-DC/AC solutions. Utilizing big data, IoT, and modular topology design, combined with a joint software-hardware regulation mechanism, the system acquires and analyzes the power demands of diverse user groups. It establishes a user demand analysis model based on AI algorithms and big data analytics. Further, it employs a synergistic fusion mechanism of electrical equipment and intelligent AI algorithms to enable the flexible integration and dynamic regulation of diverse energy sources (PV, wind, storage, diesel generators, grid power, DC loads). This meets operational needs across various scenarios. Technology deployment will be accelerated through demonstration applications, propelling building energy systems towards greater efficiency, intelligence, and sustainability.

‌Looking Ahead:‌

Sitech Electric and Xi'an Jiaotong University embark on this deep collaboration, harnessing the University's profound academic heritage and cutting-edge research capabilities alongside Sitech's intelligent product R&D and manufacturing prowess.

‌In R&D:‌ The partnership will precisely identify energy demands and technology trends, accelerating the deployment of new technologies.
‌In Products:‌ Intelligent optimization will enhance device energy efficiency and reliability, creating green and smart energy solutions.
Dedicated to ensuring the low-carbon and economical operation of diverse energy scenarios and equipment, the collaboration will deliver efficient, intelligent, and green solutions for industry, buildings, transportation, and other sectors, contributing significantly to the construction of a clean, safe, and efficient modern energy system.