French energy company EDF signed two energy service contracts with China during the French president's three-day official visit to China, which started on Monday Jan. 8, EDF announced on Tuesday.
According to the company statement, the first contract covers design, construction and 30-year operation of a network of stations for chilled water for air conditioning, sanitation and hot water production in the municipality of Sanya in the southern province of Hainan with a population of 700,000.
The network, based on high performance equipment combined with solar panels and a smart operating system, enables CO2 emissions to be reduced by 20 percent compared to individual systems, according to the company.
The second contract is for building and operating a 35-megawatt biomass cogeneration plant for 30 years in the town of Lingbao with a population of 750,000 in the province of Henan in the center of the country. The facility will supply electricity and heating to around 25,000 homes in the town.
The municipality can definitively stop using individual coal-fired boilers right after the commissioning of the planned scheduled for 2019, the company said.
"With the aim of reducing its energy intensity by 15 percent by the year 2020, China represents an energy service market with high potential," Jean-Bernard Levy, the EDF group chairman and chief executive was quoted as saying.
"The two new contracts consolidate the group's position in China and fits in with our strategy CAP 2030, which plans to triple EDF activity abroad in countries with high growth by the year 2030," Levy added.
According to the company, EDF has been operating in several energy segments, including nuclear and renewables, in China for over 30 years.
By Huseyin Erdogan
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr
