ThinkGeoEnergy – Geothermal Energy News

Enex China & Sinopec teaming up for district heating projects in China

Chinese oil giant Sinopec and Enex China, a geothermal company owned by Geysir Green Energy (75%) and Reykjavik Energy Invest (REI, 25%), have teamed up to develop geothermal district heating projects in China.

Reported in Iceland, the Chinese oil giant Sinopec and Enex China, a geothermal company owned by Geysir Green Energy (75%) and Reykjavik Energy Invest (REI, 25%), have teamed up to develop geothermal district heating projects in China.

The company being founded will be majority owned by Sinopec (51%) and Enex China with the rest.

The agreement highlights the accomplishments of Enex China with its district heating project in Xian Yang, a 500,000 people city in Shaanxi Province.

The size of the district heating system of Xian Yang is as big as for the city of Reykjanesbaer in Iceland, but is expected to nearly fifteen-fold from around 1 million square metres to around 15 million square meters within the next few years. So potentially this could be the largest geothermal district heating system worldwide.

The first task of the company will be to extend the district heating system in Xian Yang, with the next project expected to provide geothermal heating for around 300,000 square meters in the municipality of Xiong in Hebai province later this year and a million square meters by 2010. Other projects planned are in Shandong province, close to the country’s capital Bejing. According to Jiang Zhu, Geysir Green Energy’s representative in China based in Shanghai, “it is too early to mention other projects that the company is looking at for the moment.”

Sinopec is the 9th biggest company in the world based on market capitalization. The company has an 80% market share in China’s oil market and empoloyees of around 640,000, with daughter companies that number would go beyond 1 million staff members. The company Sinopec Star is the daughter company that is pushing the renewable energy business on behalf of the mother company.

The former joint venture that built up the Xian Yang district heating system, is called Shaanxi Green Energy and was a joint venture between Enex China and a daughter company of Sinopec. From the article it is not clear if this will be the joint company pushing the further development.

Source: Icelandic Morgunbladid (in Icelandic)

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