China builds first zero-carbon village in coal-rich province

(goshanxi.com.cn)

Updated: 2023-05-16

Zhuangshang village in Ruicheng county in North China's Shanxi province was recently recognized as a "China zero-carbon demonstrative village" due to its use of new energy. 

The coveted title was co-awarded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the United Nations Development Programme, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. 

The Enabling Zero Carbon Energy in Rural Towns and Villages in China Project launched by the GEF aims to accelerate zero-carbon transformation and green development in China's rural areas. 

The project takes Chinese villages and towns as pilot sites to fully replace traditional fossil energy with renewable energy through the development of rural renewable resources. 

Zhuangshang village has embraced a power generation system that combines rooftop photovoltaic, energy storage, direct current distribution and flexible electricity technology, giving it an annual power generation capacity of 2.5 million kilowatt-hours.

The system can save about 1,000 metric tons of standard coal for power generation and transmit 2.1 million kWh of solar power to other areas, in addition to meeting electricity demand in the village.