The Chinese city of Zhangjiakou has stepped up its efforts to deploy
renewable energy systems, a new report by the International Renewable
Energy Agency (IRENA) finds. The Agency’s first ever roadmap 2050 for
the city of Zhangjiakou sets an example for Chinese cities to run their
energy systems off coal and take advantage of renewable energy.
Zhangjiakou, home to 4.4 million people in the Hebei Province, will play
an important role in achieving Beijing’s ambition for low-carbon Winter
Olympic Games 2022. IRENA’s new report has been launched today at the Great Wall World Renewable Energy Forum in China.
Zhangjiakou benefits from an abundant renewable energy resources,
including an estimated technical resource potential of 30 gigawatts (GW)
for solar photovoltaics (PV) and 40 GW for wind. In 2017, renewables
accounted for 73% of the total installed capacity and around 45% of the
total electricity output. IRENA’s report finds that after 2035, the city
can achieve renewable shares of over 70% by 2050.
In addition, the study has shown that because Zhangjiakou has undertaken
an initiative to upgrade its current industrial sectors, urban energy
system planning must be strategically harmonised with industrial sector
development to ensure that the new energy demand can be met as much as
possible by renewables. This is important for China as it seeks a way to
sustainably fuel its continued urbanisation over the next three
decades, with an estimated 255 million people set to be added to Chinese
cities by 2050. How China chooses today to power its cities will have a
far-reaching impact on future energy and environmental sustainability.
As the first of its kind in China, IRENA’s Zhangjiakou Energy
Transformation Strategy 2050 will set a new paradigm for many other
Chinese cities that are eager to wean their energy systems off coal and
to take advantage of the uptake of renewable energy technologies and
other enabling technologies. Given the increased nationwide impetus for
advancing the energy transformation towards a green, clean and
low-carbon energy system for the city, this report contributes to a
rising tide of urban strategic energy development planning across China.
This report has been jointly conducted by IRENA, the China National
Renewable Energy Center and People’s Government of Zhangjiakou and forms
part of the implementation for the workplan for co-operation under the
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the People’s Government of
Hebei Province of the People’s Republic of China and IRENA signed in
March 2018. The report is part of the ‘Energy Solutions for Cities of
the Future’ series supported by the International Climate Initiative
(IKI).
Read full report ‘Zhangjiakou Energy Transformation Strategy 2050’