en.Wedoany.com Reported - Recently, the CAS Qingneng Deep Cryogenic Equipment R&D and Production Base project officially broke ground in Hefei High-tech Zone, marking the project's entry into the substantive construction phase.
Expected to be completed in 2027, with an annual output value of 500 million yuan upon full operation
Located at the intersection of Changpu Road and Shilian South Road, the project has a total investment of 520 million yuan, covers approximately 30 mu (about 2 hectares), with a building area of about 12,000 square meters. It plans to construct four single buildings, including a high-standard production and R&D base, a research building, and related supporting facilities. The project is expected to be completed in April 2027. It focuses on the R&D and manufacturing of deep cryogenic equipment, aiming to overcome key "bottleneck" technical challenges, providing core equipment and cryogenic technical services for cutting-edge fields such as controlled nuclear fusion, commercial aerospace, quantum computing, and civilian superconductivity. Once fully completed and operational, the project is expected to achieve an annual output value of 500 million yuan, helping to upgrade and expand the regional strategic emerging industry cluster.
CAS Qingneng was established in June 2022, jointly funded by CGN Capital Holdings Co., Ltd. and Henan Aerospace Industry Fund, in collaboration with the Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center Energy Research Institute, Shanghai Ke'an Chuangneng Technology Co., Ltd., and other excellent technical partners within the industry chain. The company primarily focuses on key technologies and core equipment in temperature ranges below 20K, dedicated to providing cryogenic solutions for fields such as green hydrogen energy, controlled nuclear fusion, aerospace, high-end medical care, quantum technology, and advanced semiconductors.
In early January this year, CAS Qingneng announced the completion of a new round of equity financing in December 2025, with a financing scale of nearly 500 million yuan. This round was led by Dinghui Baifu, with joint lead investments from NIO Capital, China Reform Fund, and Kunpeng Capital. Several well-known investment institutions, including Hetang Capital, Xiaoyu Capital, Henan Asset Management, Feitu Venture Capital, and Xihu Venture Capital, also participated. Original shareholders Rongtuo Capital and CGN Capital continued to increase their stakes, with Yundao Capital serving as the financial advisor.
Helium Refrigerator Supports CRAFT Facility Construction
On the technical verification front, on October 15, 2025, the 3kW@4.5K helium refrigerator developed and manufactured by CAS Qingneng was successfully started up in Hefei on the first attempt — as of October 20, the equipment had been operating safely and stably for over 120 hours, with an actual cooling capacity of 3kW, meeting the design specifications. This equipment is currently the largest cooling power helium refrigerator put into operation in China's nuclear fusion field and will support the stable operation of the national major science and technology infrastructure CRAFT (Comprehensive Research Facility for Fusion Technology). The core goal of the CRAFT project is to explore and master key DEMO-level fusion technologies. The 3kW@4.5K helium refrigerator provides a stringent cryogenic operating environment for the large superconducting magnets of fusion devices.
The company completed all design, manufacturing, and commissioning work for this equipment in just seven months. It features advanced technical characteristics such as multi-user operating modes, rapid variable condition control, and a high level of automation, enabling it to provide a stable cryogenic environment for the CRAFT project over the long term. The successful development of this equipment has accumulated valuable experience for the R&D of ultra-high-power, ultra-low-temperature refrigeration equipment in China, effectively mitigating the "bottleneck" risk posed by Western countries in this field, and providing key technical support and equipment assurance for the healthy development of China's nuclear fusion industry.
In recent years, the Hefei High-tech Zone has made forward-looking deployments in future tracks such as controlled nuclear fusion. To date, the zone has gathered over 30 upstream and downstream enterprises in the industry chain, establishing a complete industrial ecosystem of "superconducting materials - special power supplies and equipment manufacturing - device construction and derivative technology applications." The CAS Qingneng Hefei R&D and production base is a crucial part of this ecosystem.
With the groundbreaking of the CAS Qingneng Deep Cryogenic Equipment R&D and Production Base, the Hefei High-tech Zone has placed another key piece in its journey to build a "Capital of Fusion Industry." This project will not only provide solid equipment support for China's "national heavy equipment" in controlled nuclear fusion and quantum technology to break through foreign technological blockades but will also further consolidate Hefei's leading advantage in future industries by strengthening and supplementing the industrial chain. Looking ahead, relying on Hefei's innovative fertile ground, CAS Qingneng is expected to continuously unleash its "hardcore" strength in the deep cryogenic track, injecting strong momentum into the high-quality development of the regional strategic emerging industry cluster and helping China gain the initiative in global technological competition.
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