China is delivering its promise of hosting a “Green Winter Olympics” by using renewable energy to power the vehicles, stadiums and facilities for the Games.
A hydrogen filling station in the co-host city Zhangjiakou started operation on Monday, with a design daily hydrogenation capacity of 1,000 kg, which will provide clean energy for hydrogen-powered vehicles running in the competition zone in north China’s Hebei Province.
The energy station in Zhangjiakou’s Wanquan District is also equipped with a 70MPa mobile hydrogenation facility developed by the country’s energy conglomerate, China Energy Corporation (CHN Energy). It can offer on-site refueling services in any competition area in Zhangjiakou.
“The energy station can provide hydrogenation for hydrogen-powered vehicles, and recharge electric vehicles. It is a comprehensive energy station, which will provide services for all types of vehicles including hydrogen vehicles for the Winter Olympics,” said Fu Xiangru, head of the station.
Over 700 hydrogen-fueled vehicles will be used before and during the Games, and 30 hydrogen refueling stations built by PetroChina, Sinopec Corp. and other large energy producers are ready to guarantee the operation of the green vehicles.
“A total of 200 hydrogen-powered buses equipped with the self-developed fuel cell system called ‘Hydrogen Teng’ will be put into use in Beijing’s Yanqing competition zone for the Winter Olympics and Paralympics. The hydrogen-fueled buses have a driving range of 630 kilometers and can start at a temperature of minus 30 degrees Celsius, meeting the requirements of low-temperature operation in northern cities,” said Liu Mingsheng, deputy general manager of State Power Investment Corporation, another Chinese energy giant.
Chinese energy companies have explored other renewable energy resources for the Games apart from hydrogen energy.
The Guohua Energy Investment Co. Ltd. under the CHN Energy, has installed seven wind farms with 961 wind turbines in Zhangjiakou, which boast a total of 1.6 million kilowatts of power generation capacity. It will transport green electricity to the northern Hebei region, especially for the Winter Olympics.
“We participated in the first batch of green power trading for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games venues. We’re striving to provide green power for venues and auxiliary service facilities, which accounts for 24 percent of the total green power trading for the Winter Olympic Games,” said Feng Weiqiang, deputy head of the CHN Energy’s electric power industry management department.
The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics will run February 4 to 20, and the Winter Paralympics, March 4-13. Competitions are due to be staged in three zones – downtown Beijing, Beijing’s northwestern suburban district of Yanqing and Zhangjiakou City of neighboring Hebei Province.
Source: CGTN