On June 21st, Hebei-Sweden District Heating Seminar and Strategic Cooperation Signing Ceremony was conducted as part of Sustainable Heating & Cooling by Sweden in the Pioneer the possible platform in China. The seminar focused on innovative technologies driving low-carbon transformation of district heating and regulations that were introduced in Sweden already from the 1970´s to drive energy efficiency and reduction of primary fuel sources, corresponding to the request from Hebei province on improving energy efficiency and reducing carbon footprint in the district energy sector. More than 300 participants from Hebei provincial district heating office and district heating companies joined the seminar through online channels.

The seminar was co-organized with SweHeat & Cooling, and the local partners were Hebei Urban Heating Association and Hebei Huare Engineering Design Co., Ltd.

The seminar started with welcome words by leaders of Hebei Urban Heating Association and introduction of status and development trend of district heating in Hebei province. The province has the plan to increase clean energy and renewable energy as heating sources, and is interested in intelligent heating system and thermal storage solutions.

In the Seminar, Mr. Paul Westin from Swedish Energy Agency presented Sweden’s green transition in district energy, Mr. Gustav Melin of SVEBIO introduced the Swedish roadmap of bringing bioenergy into the Swedish energy system. Jörgen Engström of Mälarenergi, Västerås shared their experience on how hot water Thermal Energy Storage (TES) has developed over the years at Mälarenergi. Bernt Andersson of SweHeat & Cooling introduced policies and regulations that helped Swedish district energy companies in their carbon neutrality planning.

During the seminar, strategic cooperation agreement between SweHeat & Cooling and Hebei Urban Heating Association, as well as Huare Engineering Design Co Ltd was signed. The agreement will further facilitate a long-term cooperation between Sweden and Hebei in the area of district energy.

Representatives from Swedish technology leading companies, Alfa Laval, NODA, Swep, PG Monitoring System AB and Zeta Boiler shared their innovation solutions to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions in district energy, by improving everything from building installations through piping distribution networks to the energy plant and utilization of Thermal Energy Storages (TES) to optimize the economy of the district heating operations.

The seminar was an important step for continued discussions for further cooperation for low-carbon transformation of district energy systems.

Photo credit: Hebei Urban Heating Association