Optimizing urban heating in Taiyuan and Jinzhong for low-carbon development

In 2010, some 40% of the energy consumed in the residential and service building sector in Northern China was for heating. One of the main reasons for this consumption was the inefficiency of existing heating systems (small individual boilers and obsolete networks).

Coal was the main energy source for urban heating, particularly in Shanxi Province, a major producing region for this fossil fuel. In the 2000s, the Chinese government began actively promoting district and centralized heating, as well as the use of cogeneration power plants for heating. AFD assisted the cities of Taiyuan and Jinzhong in implementing an efficient and innovative urban heating solution.

In Taiyuan, the project involved phasing out 254 inefficient small boiler systems 20 years and building three levels of urban heating networks: a 9.6 km-long primary network from the power plant to a pressure isolation station, a 44 km-long secondary network comprising 75 substations, and part of the tertiary network. This network is supplied by a cogeneration plant and supplies a surface area of 10.6 million square meters.

In Jinzhong, 677 small boiler systems and 8 district boiler systems with low levels of efficiency were decommissioned. They were replaced by a heating network for which the first 97.5 km-long phase is equipped with 87 heat exchange stations and supplied by a new cogeneration plant. This network supplies a surface area of 10.15 million square meters.

• Improved quality of urban heating in Jinzhong and Taiyuan;

• Significant reduction in CO₂ emissions and pollutants, with positive impacts on the environment, and the health and comfort of residents;

• This program has helped the heating sector in China transition towards low- carbon management by promoting technological innovations for energy efficiency and effective network management.