China: Danish green energy technology impresses Chinese delegation

A Chinese delegation headed by Deputy Director General Shi Lishan from the National Energy Administration got first-hand impressions of Danish green energy technologies on 15 and 16 April.

From 15 to 16 April a delegation from China’s National Energy Administration visited Denmark to get first-hand experience with Danish energy technology. The delegation was headed by Deputy Director General Shi Lishan. First stop for the delegation was a visit to the island of Samsø. In 1997 this small island, decided to establish a fossil fuel free energy system. Now the island is powered mostly by renewable energy.

The ferry sailing to Samsø made a detour in order for the delegation to witness the offshore wind turbines (shown in the photo above) before visiting Samsø Energy Academy. More site visits were arranged to a straw fired small-scale district heating plant and another district heating facility based on solar panels and a wood fired boiler before leaving for Aarhus municipality and a meeting with the city administration. Aarhus municipality has a broad-based cooperation with China which a.o. has resulted in a sister city agreement with Harbin in Heilongjiang province. Aarhus municipality is involved in a project on heat planning in Harbin.

On Wednesday 16 April the delegation paid a visit to the company EMD International A/S. The company specializes in advanced technical and economic optimization software for wind turbines and combined heat and power plants. The software is also suitable for simulation of the challenges that China faces with the integration of wind into the power system.

Next stop was the Østerild testing facility for large-scale wind turbines towering up to 250 meters above the surface. The delegation was met by representatives from site owner DTU (Technical University of Denmark) and owners of two wind turbines Vestas and Siemens. The delegation saw the impressive four turbines already installed and was given a unique insight into the functionality of the turbines.

Final stop on the tour was a visit to Thisted district heating company. This company uses advanced green technologies for heat production and the delegation got a chance to experience an absorption heat pump in combination with a geothermal drilling and a straw fired boiler delivering very cheap district heating to the entire city and surroundings.

The tour is a part of an ongoing knowledge transfer between the two countries that seek to increase the development of green energy technology and enhance the use of green energy in both China and Denmark.

Anton Beck
Kontorchef
Center for Global Rådgivning og Forhandling
Tlf.: 29 62 39 96
anb@ens.dk