Green DH in China: The city of Taian selected for pilot project

Faster and improved heat planning is needed for China to reach the plans to peak CO2 emissions before 2030 and CO2 neutrality before 2060. The city of Taian is committed to collaborating on heat planning based on Danish holistic solutions through a project supported by the Danish Energy Agency.

Pilot project for other Chinese cities

The project Supporting the clean heating transition in China will develop a specific heat plan for the city and share the method to help other Chinese cities replicate the results. The new methods will be shared with the help of the city, the China District Heating Association, other project partners, and the Sino-Danish expert panel on district heating.

Taian is representative of many cities in northern China with existing DH systems heavily reliant on coal for heat production, limited integration with other sectors, and DH forward temperatures of over 100 °C (primary side).

Taian is tuning in to explore green heating development

Taian is a prefecture-level city under the jurisdiction of the Shandong Province of China, located in the west of Shandong’s hilly area. The city has a population of 5.5 million, with over 65% of the buildings connected to a DH system. The primary heat producers are several CHP plants and big HOBs that supply heat to over 58 million m2 of buildings.

The city endeavored to explore green heating development and has started to identify and utilize green energy resources within the city while also expanding heat supply capacity to meet the quickly increased heat demand due to continuous urbanization.

The city is exploring green heating development and has started to identify and utilise green energy resources within the city. At the same time, heat supply capacity must expand to meet the quickly increasing heat demand due to continuously urbanization.

Need for speeding up a clean transition by 2030

With China’s commitment to a carbon peak by 2030, the DH industry faces challenges to keep pace with both heat demand increases and the need to speed up a clean transition.

With support from the Danish Embassy in China

The city’s commitment is vital to a successful process. The project works directly with the main local DH company, and the Danish Embassy in China supports the high-level dialogue with the city authorities. The collaboration is based on the existing strategic considerations of the city, and the project is already working with the main DH company, Taian Taishan Heating, to exchange data and information on potential sites for green heat production.