China, People's Republic of: Advanced Renewable Energy Technology Demonstration

Energy / Energy utility services

The knowledge and support technical assistance (TA) will increase the readiness of the Government of Aba Prefecture for investments in climate-resilient distributed heating based on renewable energy in Barkam County in Sichuan Province. The TA will assist the local government in developing knowledge about and preparing a pre-feasibility study on renewable energy-based climate-resilient distributed heating systems.

The TA is in the country operations business plan, 2018 2020 of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the People's Republic of China (PRC). It fully aligns with ADB's country partnership strategy, 2016 2020 for the PRC's priority on managing climate change and the environment for an ecological civilization. It will support the strategic priorities of Strategy 2030 to build climate resilience and enhance environmental sustainability.

Barkam County is the city seat of Aba Prefecture in Sichuan Province, which lies in a high-altitude-cold region in southern PRC. Barkam has an average elevation of 2,650 meters and is an alpine-gorge city with an annual average temperature ranges from 8 Celsius degree (C) to 9C. Its heating season lasts for more than 6 months but the county is not equipped with district heating system because of (i) historical reason and (ii) a lack of fossil fuel endowment. Historically, the PRC has been bisected into northern urban heating area and southern no heating area by the Qin-Huai line. Aba is situated in the southern no heating area. In recent years, PRC has started to support application of urban heating in high-altitude-cold areas, and most supported heating projects are powered by coal-fired 3. Barkam County is the city seat of Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province, which lies in a cold, high-altitude region in southern PRC. Barkam has an average elevation of 2,650 meters and is an alpine-gorge city with a heating season that lasts more than 6 months. Its annual temperature ranges from 8 C to 9 C and its winter temperature often drops to 10 C. Heating services are therefore essential for public health and well-being and for the sustenance of people's livelihoods. However, the county does not have a central heating system as it lacks fossil fuels, faces high fuel transportation costs, and has low fuel combustion efficiency because of the low density of oxygen associated with high altitude.

As in other regions in southern PRC, space heating in Barkam relies on independent systems such as electric heaters, biomass burning, and coal-fired stoves. Such heating systems are generally energy inefficient and costly and present potential safety hazards and health concerns. Developing an energy-efficient and affordable space heating system is one of the highest development priorities in Barkam, which is facing rising heating demand from its growing population.

Aba has abundant renewable energy resources. Its electricity supply is fully dependent on renewable energy power plants, mainly from hydropower, which comprises 96.6% of installed capacity and generated 18.8 terawatt-hours of power in 2017. The recoverable potential is 5.5 gigawatts for solar power and 2.3 gigawatts for wind power. Aba's electricity supply exceeds demand and surplus electricity is exported to neighboring regions. To meet rising heating demand, improve energy efficiency, and reduce air pollutant emissions from heating, the Government of Barkam County has been seeking sustainable heating systems that use rich renewable energy resources and targeting to develop a renewable energy-based distributed heating system, as reflected in its urban development plan approved in 2017. A renewable energy-based distributed heating system can meet space heating demand in commercial buildings and apartment complexes using heating technologies that supply carbon- and pollutant-free sustainable services. In general, renewable energy technologies for heating include ones that can directly convert renewable energy into heat, such as solar thermal energy storage; and ones that use power generated from renewable sources, such as electric thermal storage or shallow-ground thermal storage-coupled heat pump. The renewable energy-based distributed heating solution will be the first of its kind in a high-altitude region in the PRC, with large potential for scale-up and duplication in other regions in the country. It could particularly provide valuable experience to existing heating system renovations in northern PRC.

Heat loss from buildings in Barkam is high due to building vintage. In general, air leaks from doors and windows contribute 40% 50% of total building heat loss in rural housing in the PRC. Improving building thermal efficiency is an efficient approach to reduce heat loss and save heating costs.

The city is vulnerable to climate change and has a fragile ecosystem because of high altitude. Developing a renewable energy-based distributed heating system requires finding technically feasible, commercially viable, affordable, and sustainable solutions with an adequate degree of flexibility and robustness that would allow adaptation to uncertainties related to climate change and socioeconomic development. Failure to consider the potential impact of climate change in the heating system's design could lead to inefficiency and underperformance of the underlying investment, compromising mitigation efforts. Among the uncertainties to consider are:

(i) Renewable energy generation. Long-term grid power supply could be affected by a possible change in available water resources because of climate change, given the dominant role of hydropower in the energy mix. If the security of hydropower is projected to be uncertain in the future, proposed technology options need to be less dependent on grid power supply.

(ii) Technology operations. Different technologies are exposed to specific climatic variables. For example, for underground thermal energy storage, climate change will influence its performance through changes in annual mean air temperature, permafrost melt, and aquifer availability.

(iii) Heating demand. Heating demand uncertainties can emerge from extreme weather conditions because of climate change and socioeconomic development. For example, a severe cold spell, elongated winter seasons, or unexpected rapid urbanization can increase heating demand. If those uncertainties were not factored into the project design, technological design would be locked and the investment's environmental and financial sustainability might be compromised.

There are valuable experiences and lessons from several activities on renewable energy-based heating systems that ADB has supported in the PRC. The TA will draw from such experiences and lessons from existing activities to improve the design of the renewable energy-based heating system and cross-fertilizing the knowledge.

Pre-feasibility study on renewable energy-based climate-resilient distributed heating prepared

Knowledge of renewable energy-based climate-resilient distributed heating system disseminated