Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone receives the "Zero Carbon KPI" — how to build a zero-carbon park?

Source: 21st Century Business Herald Author: Lu Taoran, Li Deshang Yu

During the 14th Five-Year Plan, China aims to establish about 100 national zero-carbon parks. As one of the first selected, Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone (Beijing ETDZ) is focusing on building a zero-carbon park centered on new energy and intelligent connected vehicle industries. However, a significant gap in a key indicator presents a major challenge.

“After deducting green electricity contributions, the unit energy consumption carbon emission indicator in Beijing ETDZ reaches 1.6 tons of CO2 per ton of standard coal, far above the 0.2 tons of CO2 per ton of standard coal required by the National Development and Reform Commission,” recently at the 2026 Zero Carbon Future Conference, a relevant official from the Beijing ETDZ Management Committee’s Economic Development Bureau said. This is the biggest difficulty in the coming years, and “where to get green electricity” is the current dilemma.

Facing this challenge, the official revealed that Beijing ETDZ is planning to build an AI-powered energy and carbon intelligent management platform to coordinate virtual power plants, energy storage facilities, green electricity trading, and carbon emission factors. In the future, it will also incorporate finance, project databases, and safety supervision functions, aiming to achieve refined and intelligent management of energy and carbon flows.

From 1.6 to 0.2: the carbon reduction challenge

“Calculations show that even within the scope of this application in 2024, after deducting green electricity contributions, the unit energy consumption carbon emission indicator will still be as high as 1.6,” the official explained. The biggest difficulty in building a zero-carbon park in Beijing ETDZ is the high pressure to reduce carbon emissions.

According to the core indicator requirements for national zero-carbon parks set by the National Development and Reform Commission, the unit energy consumption carbon emissions must be below 0.2 tons of CO2 per ton of standard coal. The official analyzed that to reduce from 1.6 to 0.2, about 1.4 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions need to be absorbed within three years, which is a formidable task.

Based on current energy consumption and carbon emission trends in the park, the official said that in 2024, the total energy consumption in the core area will be 3.03 million tons of standard coal, a 4.75% increase year-on-year. “This is mainly due to natural gas use brought by the production of Xiaomi automobiles, which also involves spraying processes, leading to increased natural gas and electricity consumption.”

Regarding energy intensity, the official stated that in 2024, the core area’s energy consumption per ten thousand yuan of GDP will be 0.1026 tons of standard coal. Over the past decade, Beijing ETDZ has maintained an average annual energy consumption growth of 5%, mainly driven by enterprise expansion and the resulting rigid increase in energy use. “In the 2025 Ministry of Commerce assessment, Beijing ETDZ ranks among the top in energy consumption intensity among all development zones nationwide, with relatively high energy efficiency.”

In terms of total carbon emissions and energy structure, Beijing ETDZ reduced its total carbon emissions by 24.61% during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, with a foundation of 75% electricity and 25% natural gas and thermal energy.

The official said that unlike the “full-area zero-carbon” blueprint, Beijing ETDZ has designated specific core areas for the national zero-carbon park application. After intensive calculations, the zone selected the energy-intensive and relatively optimized energy structure (75% electricity consumption) new energy and intelligent connected vehicle industry cluster as the breakthrough point.

Within the application area, Beijing ETDZ gathers companies such as Beijing Benz, Xiaomi Auto, CATL, Goldwind, and Schneider Electric. The official introduced that Beijing Benz has one of the city’s largest distributed photovoltaic projects, Xiaomi Auto has an iconic BIPV (Building-Integrated Photovoltaics) project, CATL has operated with green electricity since commissioning, and Goldwind has established the country’s first zero-carbon smart park model. These existing practices provide valuable technological and management foundations for the construction of a zero-carbon park.

Where does green electricity come from? The biggest challenge

“If no measures are taken, the carbon emissions per unit energy consumption in the application park will reach 1.5 million tons of CO2 by 2028. To meet the national requirement of 0.2, our emissions can only reach 100,000 tons,” the official said. This means reducing 1.4 million tons of carbon emissions within three years, either through offsets or other means.

To achieve 0.2, the official analyzed four major challenges ahead.

First, the contradiction between renewable energy resource endowment and supply stability is the biggest pressure, i.e., “where does green electricity come from.”

Beijing ETDZ’s local renewable energy generation can only meet less than 5% of the power demand, while the zero-carbon park requires at least 50% direct connection to green power. Finding sources for direct green power connection is critical. The zone considers importing green electricity from Inner Mongolia, Hebei, and other regions but faces long transportation distances and implementation difficulties, as well as the need to clarify leading entities and solve technical issues related to direct connection and substation stability.

“To address this, we have planned related projects. For example, Beijing ETDZ’s agrivoltaics project leverages abundant agricultural and fruit tree resources to build green power direct connection bases; Majuqiao Logistics Park has large rooftop areas, and its self-generated green power cannot be fully consumed, making it an important source for direct connection; Nanggong biomass waste power plant is also a key green power connection support; Goldwind’s 12 wind turbine projects will also be vital for the park’s green power supply,” the official explained. Long-term, Beijing ETDZ is collaborating with Jinneng International on a green power transmission project to Beijing, expected to deliver 10 billion kWh of green electricity annually by 2028, effectively meeting the power needs of other enterprises outside the application scope.

Additionally, Beijing ETDZ is exploring new energy “fly zones,” cooperating with Pinggu, Miyun, Langfang, and other regions to build green power supply bases, and proposing the idea of establishing a carbon-neutral cooperation zone. Relying on the industrial advantages of the zone, they are exploring industry-based carbon sink exchange models to achieve green development and economic growth in tandem.

The high cost of replacing fossil fuels is also a challenge. “In 2026, the power consumption of the application park is expected to reach 2.056 billion kWh, with future growth expected, such as Xiaomi Auto and CATL expanding production, which could double power use to 4.5 billion kWh by 2028.”

Natural gas consumption in the park, which accounts for 27.72%, needs to be reduced to 10.67% by 2028. However, the cost of constructing and operating electric boilers is 3-4 times that of gas boilers. With relatively low natural gas prices in Beijing, enterprises lack motivation for retrofit. “Solutions include exploring multi-energy complementary systems, such as utilizing waste heat from Nanggong waste power plant, combined with resources from data centers and wastewater treatment plants, to provide alternative heat sources for companies like Beijing Benz.”

Notably, Xiaomi Auto, which has been in production for only a year, finds it difficult to replace gas boilers in the short term. “We are considering CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage) technology to address its carbon emissions, and are also exploring market-based utilization scenarios for captured CO2,” the official said. For example, applications in Coca-Cola production and data center cooling. Only by finding market-based applications can CCUS technology be sustainable.

Energy storage projects also face obstacles. “Due to safety incidents, approval for large-scale energy storage projects in Beijing has nearly stalled, but energy storage is key to regulating green power fluctuations and ensuring grid stability,” the official noted. Beijing ETDZ hopes to leverage the zero-carbon park application to push policy breakthroughs and pilot projects, and explore mechanisms for enterprise surplus electricity recovery.

It’s worth noting that large-scale commercialization of CCUS, green hydrogen, and new photovoltaic technologies like perovskite still face cost and reliability challenges. The official said Beijing ETDZ is promoting related labs and demonstration projects, and exploring market scenarios for CO2 captured via CCUS, such as food processing and data center cooling, to seek sustainable business models.

Three-step roadmap from 2026 to 2028

Regarding economic analysis and guarantees, the official said that under current policies, the static payback period for zero-carbon park projects is 9.8 years, slightly above enterprise expectations. “In the future, we hope the state and Beijing will introduce relevant incentive policies, and the ETDZ will also roll out supporting policies to shorten the payback period and meet enterprise investment expectations.”

“Currently, aside from the core indicator of unit energy consumption carbon emissions, all other guiding indicators for Beijing ETDZ meet the national zero-carbon park application requirements,” the official added. Facing the complex challenges, the zone has formulated a clear three-year implementation plan.

The official explained that 2026 will be a year for energy-saving preparations and pilot breakthroughs. The main focus is to correct the misconception that “buying carbon offsets equals zero carbon,” prioritizing energy-saving renovations and high-efficiency equipment upgrades, while simultaneously advancing CCUS and energy storage pilot projects.

2027 will be the year for green power breakthroughs and platform operation. The goal is to achieve substantial progress in green power direct connection, launch and operate the AI-powered energy and carbon management platform, and reduce the unit energy consumption carbon emission indicator from 1.6 to 0.5.

2028 will be the year for integrated sprint and demonstration promotion. The aim is to deeply integrate energy-saving and carbon reduction with industrial development, achieve the core targets, and replicate successful models to enterprises and regions with conditions. Currently, eight major fields and 25 zero-carbon park projects are planned, with a total investment of nearly 2.5 billion yuan, with ongoing adjustments and improvements.

Looking ahead at the feasibility of reaching zero-carbon goals, the official said Beijing ETDZ will focus on three main directions: green power direct connection, energy storage, and market-based trading. First, increasing renewable energy use by expanding local PV installations, promoting green power direct connection projects, and cross-region green power trading. Second, deploying energy storage facilities, encouraging enterprises to build small-scale storage, and deploying large-scale storage in demonstration zones to ensure power stability and safety. Third, improving energy efficiency, which is often overlooked in current carbon reduction efforts, by promoting waste heat utilization and leveraging resources from data centers, waste power plants, and wastewater treatment plants to replace fossil fuel boilers.

Of particular importance is its platform-based and systematic approach. “Beijing ETDZ is planning to build an AI-integrated energy and carbon smart management platform to coordinate virtual power plants, energy storage, green power trading, and carbon emission factors, with future functions including finance, project databases, and safety supervision, aiming for precise and intelligent management of energy and carbon flows,” the official emphasized.

It’s also noteworthy that during the shift from “energy consumption dual control” to “carbon emission dual control,” some enterprises have found that “energy-saving costs are higher than carbon reduction costs,” leading them to prefer directly purchasing green power to achieve apparent carbon neutrality, while energy efficiency improvements stagnate. This may run counter to the original intention of green transformation. The official suggested that the national zero-carbon park indicator system should incorporate considerations of economic efficiency and output contribution. Additionally, establishing a unified national platform for park energy and carbon data benchmarking would enable transparent comparisons and help each zone make progress, ensuring that every ton of carbon reduced creates real economic and social value.