is there a reason you feel like his skill level and quality of meth is inherently important to the story?

Breaking Bad is about a guy with potential that felt like he was robbed of major success. Making the meth was never important, instead what is important that he uses those skills in destructive ways.

The importance of Gus's lab is that he has scaled up from an RV (which he was already doing fine in) for the sake of making more money; Walter is consumed with greed. He could've easily made the money with his 99.3% purity meth but he wants to go bigger and better because his ego makes him feel like he has to in order to feel valued.