Beijing powers up green energy transition

According to a 2021-25 energy development plan issued by the Beijing government, the capital's heating supply system is expected to be coal free before 2025, while the entire city will essentially halt the use of coal by 2035.

The document also includes plans to bolster the development of renewable energy and strengthen the transmission of green power, which will be brought into the capital from other regions.

It aims to raise the proportion of renewable energy in the capital's energy consumption mix from 10.4 percent in 2020 to more than 14.4 percent in 2025 by expanding the integration of photovoltaics in public buildings and promoting the development of wind and biomass power.

In fact, by 2025, the installed photovoltaic power capacity on the capital's rooftops will have been raised by 1.2 million kilowatts.

Meanwhile, in Tongzhou district, many projects in the ongoing construction of the Beijing Municipal Administrative Center are adhering to a green, low-carbon philosophy.

For example, the headquarters of Beijing Investment Group will be equipped with highly energy-efficient heating supply and air-conditioning facilities, and will also employ a photovoltaic power generation system.

In addition to being connected to the municipal heating supply system, the building, which is expected to be handed over in October, will simultaneously use terrestrial heat — naturally generated latent heat in the subsoil — for related purposes.

In Yizhuang, an economic and technological development area in Beijing's southern suburbs, an industrial park was certified as the country's first-ever carbon neutral smart industrial park in early 2021.

In 2020, half the electricity consumed in the park, which is run by Xinjiang Goldwind Science and Technology, was provided by clean energy sources, thanks to a smart microgrid supported by distributed wind and solar power generation facilities and an electricity storage system that uses a wide range of new technologies.

The company bought carbon credits equivalent to 11,937 tons of carbon dioxide from the China Certified Emission Reductions program to offset the park's emissions of greenhouse gases in the year. The move refers to the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by companies on a voluntary basis that is certified by the government.