China’s Ordos region plans energy transition

BEIJING: As the race to achieve net-zero carbon emissions is redefining the world’s energy outlay, the city of Ordos in North China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region aims to grab a piece of the pie through energy transition.

With proven coal reserves of the Ordos Plateau standing at 210.2 billion tonnes, accounting for about one-sixth of the country’s coal supply, Ordos has consistently been an important energy supply base in the country over the past few decades.

However, success has come at a cost – high carbon emissions. Ordos, the country’s main coal-producing region, is also blessed with abundant wind and solar resources, so it is focusing on how to make the transition.

The city came up with the world’s first net-zero industrial park last year in partnership with green technology company Envision Group, with plans to support local renewable energy equipment, electrical vehicle manufacturing and battery industry clusters.

In the future, 80% of the energy in the entire park will be directly supplied by local wind power and photovoltaics, Envision said.

In order to complete the objective of replacing 5,000 heavy-duty trucks within the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), Ordos will also build supporting green power projects with an estimated annual power generation capacity of 15 billion kilowatts (kW), it added.

Envision Group said it will cooperate with major automakers in Ordos to replace the city’s 330,000 diesel trucks used for coal transportation with electric versions, leading to a reduction of 30 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions and cutting operating costs by 30 billion yuan (RM20bil).

It will broaden the use of new energy vehicles in carrying out environmental sanitation, logistics, public transportation and other work, it said. — China Daily/ANN