Efficient heat and power for one million people: ABB in China
The business case: Energy-efficient technologies are ABB's business. In 2007, the company built a large district heating system in Harbin, China's 10 th largest city, helping 1 million residents switch from inefficient coal-fired boilers to a central combined heat and power plant (CHP).
The business case: Energy-efficient technologies are ABB's business. In 2007, the company built a large district heating system in Harbin, China's 10 th largest city, helping 1 million residents switch from inefficient coal-fired boilers to a central combined heat and power plant (CHP).
By 2010, when all residents will be hooked up to the new system, CO 2 emissions will be reduced by some 500,000 tons annually.
The city of Harbin would not have implemented this CHP system without a loan from the Danish government because of the high initial investment required, despite the considerable savings that can be achieved during the system's lifetime.
The Danish government also committed to buy Certified Emissions Reduction credits under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) for a period of 10 years, to make the project economically feasible.
Harbin, China – a cold place. In January 2007, ABB finished building a large district heating system in the city of Harbin, Heilongjiang province, about 1,000km northeast of Beijing.
With nearly 10 million inhabitants, Harbin is China's 10th largest city, and one of its coldest. Winter temperatures dip as low as minus 40ËšC, and sub-zero temperatures typically last for six months of the year. The Harbin Ice Festival is famous because its ice sculptures last for so long.
Harbin's citizens mostly stay warm by burning coal in boilers. This is inefficient, and creates much pollution.
Daoli is one of seven districts in the city of Harbin, and home to about one million people. Harbin city officials wanted a solution that would improve heating for people in the district and also reduce CO 2 emissions.
As is very often the case with environmental protection projects, the investment cost seen in the short term seems prohibitive. The Chinese authorities therefore turned to an OECD country for a "mixed credit" loan to help get the project off the ground. China selected Denmark because it has more than 100 years of experience with district heating projects.
The investment is a CDM project, which means the greenhouse gas reductions it achieves count towards Denmark's Kyoto commitments, and the Danish government pays compensation to China for these savings. The purchase of Emission Reduction Credits by the Danish government is an additional benefit for the local government and the heating company.
The district heating system: derived from a Roman invention
ABB's solution replaced more than 500 boiler houses and 852 sets of small, inefficient coal-fired boilers with a new central combined heat and power (CHP) plant and a new district heating network. Its district heating technology is characterized by energy-efficiency, low noise, flexible control and customization.
District heating systems are an ancient concept, developed from the hot water-heated baths and greenhouses of the Roman Empire.
The basic idea involves piping hot water or steam from a central plant into houses for heat. In modern district heating systems, the heat is usually produced by a combined heat and power (CHP) plant, also called a cogeneration power plant.
Conventional power plants simply vent the heat created as a byproduct from generating electricity into the environment through cooling towers. This heat is wasted. Cogeneration plants are designed to simultaneously generate electrical power and capture the heat created by the electricity generating process.
Heat captured by cogeneration can be distributed across a network of insulated pipes (usually underground) to homes and businesses. This is a district heating system.
Cogeneration and district heating networks help reduce energy consumption and control emissions compared to many small local boilers burning fossil fuels, in addition to the energy losses and waste in a conventional power plant.
Read full article on the WBCSD website
Source: WBCSD website