Although northeast China's Heilongjiang Province experienced its
strongest snowstorm in 56 years last winter, citizens in Harbin,
the nation's northernmost provincial capital city, enjoyed a
comfortable winter, sitting in warm homes and viewing the snow
through their windows.
"Thanks to a district heating project by the Harbin government,
the Danish government and ABB, our people enjoyed a warm and
comfortable winter," says Wang Shihua, vice-mayor of Harbin. "As a
key project in Harbin in the 11th Five-Year Plan, the district
heating project not only improves the heating system in a cold
city, but also makes a huge contribution to an environmentally
friendly society."
According to ABB (Automation and Power Technologies), a global
leading power and automation technology group, the project is also
the biggest district heating infrastructure construction project
undertaken in China.
"ABB automation control technology enables one million local
residents to enjoy a comfortable room temperature above 18 degrees
Celsius, even when the average temperature outside is minus-21,"
says Bernd Muehe, senior vice-president of ABB China.
"However, what's more significant is that it helps reduce
greenhouse gases by cutting energy losses and carbon dioxide (CO2)
emissions and improving operational efficiency of heating
systems."
Chen Yuwei, project manager from Harbin Huaneng District Heating
Co Ltd tells China Business Weekly that "when all
consumers are connected, we can save 300,000 tons of standard coal
annually, reduce discharge of 75 million tons of soot, eliminate
emission of 2,200 tons of sulfur dioxide, more than 500,000 tons of
CO2 and 11,000 tons of dust.
"Because we removed more than 1,000 small-scale and
low-efficiency boiler units, inhabitants in Daoli District, the
most prosperous of the seven districts of Harbin, enjoyed a cleaner
and greener living environment in addition to a more comfortable
heating service," Chen adds.
Reduction in CO2 emissions is also part of a CDM (Clean
Development Mechanism) contract between the Danish government and
China, using principles of the Kyoto Protocol adopted in December
1997 in Japan.
Using the CDM, the Danish government is buying CO2 reductions
from the Huaneng District Heating Co for a period of 10 years. The
market price is at the moment is around US$10 per ton of certified
CO2 emission reduction.
The Danish government is also providing a 30.3 million euro
interest-free loan, some 1.78 billion yuan, with a repayment period
of 10 years for the district's heating project in Harbin.
Efficient and energy-saving
In Daoli, ABB uses hot water produced from Harbin Huaneng
District Heating Co Ltd as its primary heating resource.
Water is carried by insulated underground pipes and transferred
to 156 self-operating heating exchanger units instead of
traditional boiler rooms and then directly fed into residential
radiators to heat a combined area of 17.58 million square
meters.?
With ABB's automation technology, the temperature and flow
velocity of the water is regulated automatically based on actual
consumer heat consumption and outdoor temperature.
ABB has more than 25 years of experience in delivering
district-heating projects worldwide. Its products and systems have
been widely used in more than 200 projects and cities throughout
the world, including Tianjin Municipality, Xi'an in northwest
China's Shaanxi Province, Houma in north China's Shanxi Province, Zunhua in north China's Hebei Province and Shihezi in northwest
China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region all supported
by Danish government loans as well as many other cities in China
and Central Asia.
Danish government loans will support two more such projects in
China in cooperation with ABB, says Muehe.
"ABB's world-leading district heating technology is
characterized by energy efficiency, low noise, flexible control and
customization. It could help our customers in the 'Ice City' of
Harbin to raise the utilization of combined cycle energy production
and improve the operational efficiency of heating systems, as well
as reduce the consumption of coal and emission of greenhouse gases
considerably," says Muehe.
ABB won the 30.3 million euro main contract for the Daoli
project at the end of October 2004.
ABB provided 96.1 kilometers of insulated pipes, 378 frequency
converters, 252 secondary network circulation pumps, 126 secondary
network pressure holding pumps, 252 heat exchangers, 2,000
instruments that are used to supervise and control the network and
substations, as well as one Saturn SCADA control system with more
than 10,000 signals.
ABB also helped to rebuild 42 substations and link them to the
SCADA system.
All substations autonomously control the temperature and flow of
hot water, freeing stokers from intensive labor work.
The operations center, equipped with the ABB Saturn SCADA
system, is used to monitor and if need to control the operation of
168 heat exchangers units.
ABB also provided technical training to stokers and engineers
from Huaneng District Heating, enabling them to engage in the daily
operation and maintenance of systems.
Throughout construction of the project, intensive contacts were
maintained with the city, its local government, the district
heating utility, design offices and other involved parties, the
company said.
ABB and the Danish District Heating Export Organization also
jointly held two symposiums discussing how to save energy and
evaluate life-cycle costs by adopting new design principles and
ideas.
(China Daily March 26, 2007)
