Analysis of the Envision Zero-carbon Industrial Park Model: From Practice to Output Standards

In the past four years, Envision Technology Group (hereinafter referred to as "Envision Technology") has realized the transformation from building a zero-carbon industrial park to exporting the standards of a zero-carbon industrial park. These changes are mainly due to the implementation of the Ordos Zero-Carbon Industrial Park, which started construction in March 2021 and was completed and put into operation in April 2022, jointly by Envision Technology Group and the Ordos government, making it the world's first zero-carbon industrial park.

In the year of completion and operation, the "Guidelines for the Construction of Low-carbon/Zero-carbon Industrial Parks" jointly formulated by Envision Technology, China National Institute of Standardization, Bureau Veritas and other institutions was officially written and approved for release, which is also the world's first Chinese group standard for zero-carbon industrial parks.

In 2023, Envision Technology also participated in the release of the "Zero Carbon Industrial Park Construction Specification" local standards in Mongolia, which put forward overall directional guidance for the construction of zero carbon industrial parks and is the supporting foundation of the zero carbon industrial park standard system.

At the Ordos Zero Carbon Industry Conference held on July 26, Envision Technology cooperated with the Ordos Municipal Government and the IEC International Standards Promotion Center to announce the launch of the "International Standard Compilation of Zero Carbon Industrial Park".

How did Envision Technology's zero-carbon industrial park come about? What has gone through from construction to output standards? On August 1, the Economic Observer interviewed Zhang Yuan, general manager of the zero-carbon strategy of Envision Technology Group, on the practical experience and output standards of the zero-carbon industrial park. According to Zhang Yuan, the innovation system of the zero-carbon industrial park pioneered by Envision mainly includes a new energy system, a zero-carbon digital operating system based on international standards, and a green new industrial cluster.

Zhang Yuan said that at present, 10 new energy head enterprises have settled in the park, and a battery and energy storage industry chain has been initially formed with Envision Technology Group as the leader and Huajing and Neodymium Lithium as the supporting products. With LONGi as the leader, Meien Zhenghe and Hunan Bosheng as the supporting photovoltaic industry chain; Hydrogen fuel cell and green hydrogen equipment manufacturing industry chain led by Meijin Guohong and InBev Shengyuan; The new energy vehicle manufacturing industry chain led by SAIC Hongyan and Hydrogen Jet Technology.

Economic Observer: Why did Envision Technology build a zero-carbon industrial park? Why was the industrial park located in Ordos?

Zhang Yuan: From a national perspective, the zero-carbon and low-carbon transformation of industrial parks is crucial to the green transformation and upgrading of industries. We believe that the zero-carbon industrial park will be as important as UHV. In addition to relying on UHV to transmit a large amount of green electricity to the central and eastern regions, the more critical thing is how to transfer the high-energy consumption industrial center to the three norths (northwest, north and northeast), and directly use the local cheap renewable energy to generate higher added value.

Building zero-carbon industrial parks in new energy-rich areas and cultivating a green new industrial system can solve the problem of dislocation between new energy production and consumption, promote balanced regional development and common prosperity, and also help reduce the operating costs of the entire national economy, reduce dependence on international fossil energy, and improve the green competitiveness of Chinese products to break through future carbon tariff barriers.

Ordos is the best choice for building a zero-carbon industrial park. In the past 20 years, as the country's largest coal producer, Ordos has developed a large number of energy-intensive industries such as coal power, coal chemical industry, and electrolytic aluminum, resulting in rapid growth in carbon emissions. In the context of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, local governments have an urgent need to promote industrial transformation and achieve high-quality development, and it is urgent to adjust the industrial structure and layout.

In addition, Ordos is also rich in renewable energy, and the technical development capacity of wind and solar power stations can reach 200 million kilowatts, which has the prerequisites for the development of green energy industry, the market foundation for the green transformation of industrial structure and the low-carbon development of energy supply system. The Ordos Mengsu Economic Development Zone has long planned to build a green energy industry cluster around "wind, solar, and hydrogen storage vehicles".

Economic Observer: In four years, the zero-carbon industrial park has been realized from construction to enterprise entry, which companies have been successfully attracted to settle in? Why is a zero-carbon industrial park called "zero-carbon"?

Zhang Yuan: At present, 10 new energy head enterprises have settled in the park, and a battery and energy storage industry chain has been initially formed with Envision Technology Group as the leader and Huajing and Neodymium Lithium as the supporting companies; With LONGi as the leader, Meien Zhenghe and Hunan Bosheng as the supporting photovoltaic industry chain; Hydrogen fuel cell and green hydrogen equipment manufacturing industry chain led by Meijin Guohong and InBev Shengyuan; The new energy vehicle manufacturing industry chain led by SAIC Hongyan and Hydrogen Jet Technology. Envision Technology Group has given full play to its leading advantages to build a new energy equipment industry, and at the same time introduced Envision Intelligence and Envision Venture Capital industries to break through the bottleneck of high-end technologies including the research and development of new materials, and create a highland for green technology innovation.

In 2021, Envision joined hands with the Ordos Government and the Yijin Horoqi Government to start the construction of the Ordos Zero-Carbon Industrial Park. The basic direction proposed by the vision is to build three systems: first, a new energy system to achieve a high proportion of direct supply of green electricity; the second is a zero-carbon digital system to achieve zero-carbon certification; The third is to build a green new industrial system and build a green new industrial cluster.

At present, 80% of the park's energy is directly supplied by local wind power and photovoltaic power, and 20% is traded with the power grid through the intelligent Internet of Things source-load interactive control system and an energy island based on the combination of wind power, photovoltaic, energy storage and green hydrogen, so as to achieve 100% green energy supply.

Economic Observer: What are the attractions of zero-carbon industrial parks for enterprises?

Zhang Yuan: The biggest attraction of zero-carbon industrial parks for enterprises is the low price and 100% green electricity. With the advancement of the dual carbon goal and the pressure of global zero-carbon transformation, more and more enterprises need zero-carbon transformation. In the Ordos Zero Carbon Industrial Park, 80% of the energy comes directly from wind power and photovoltaics. Based on the optimization of the smart Internet of Things, the other 20% of the energy will be sold to the grid when too much electricity is produced, and the cooperation model will be taken back from the grid when needed, achieving 100% zero-carbon energy supply. At the same time, the abundant renewable energy resources in Ordos can provide green electricity that is cheaper than traditional coal power.

From the perspective of cost, with the development of new energy technology, the cost of green electricity is experiencing a rapid decline, and it can reach 2 cents per kilowatt-hour in the Sanbei region. If you rely on UHV to transmit a large amount of green electricity to the central and eastern regions, there will be transportation costs, and at the same time, the benefits of green power transmission are very low for energy producers. In a zero-carbon industrial park, companies can directly tap into cheap local renewable energy sources while reducing the cost of electricity transmission.

At the same time, we believe that the future carbon market will be like the oil market, and the cost and price of carbon should form an international reference system and pricing standard.

In the Ordos Zero-Carbon Industrial Park, based on the intelligent Internet of Things in the zero-carbon industrial park, we calculate the carbon footprint of the whole life cycle of the products in the park, and complete the neutralization, and finally form a "zero-carbon green code" for the products that can be traced and traced, meet various international standards, and have been certified by authoritative institutions, so as to ensure that the "zero-carbon trade" is unimpeded in the world.

Economic Observer: From the construction of industrial parks to the output of industrial park standards, what are the core indicators of the standards?

Zhang Yuan: In 2022, at the beginning of the construction of zero-carbon industrial parks, Envision cooperated with China Bidding Institute and Bureau Veritas to compile the Guidelines for the Construction of Low-carbon/Zero-carbon Industrial Parks (T/CSTE 0042-2022), which is the world's first Chinese group standard for zero-carbon industrial parks.

Subsequently, in order to promote the construction of zero-carbon industrial parks, Envision began to work with local governments to create local standards. On August 7, 2022, the country's first local standard for "Green Power Application Evaluation Method" was officially released by the Market Supervision Administration of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and officially implemented on September 7, 2022. This standard provides a scientific basis for green power accounting, evaluation and reporting.

At the same time, in order to solidly promote the implementation of zero-carbon industrial parks and form implementable, referential, and replicable norms and standards, the local standard of "Specifications for the Construction of Zero-carbon Industrial Parks" jointly drafted Mongolia by the China National Institute of Standardization, Envision Energy Co., Ltd., Shanghai Envision Kechuang Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd., and the Institute of Quality and Standardization of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region was officially implemented on April 28, 2023.

The specification puts forward the overall directional guidance for the construction of zero-carbon industrial parks, and is the supporting foundation of the standard system of zero-carbon industrial parks. The standard gives the construction principles of industrial parks with zero carbon as the ultimate goal, the main system composition of the park, the key tasks in construction, and operation and maintenance management.

Among them, measurement is the basis for the calculation of carbon emissions and green electricity in zero-carbon parks. On June 23, 2023, the Specification for the Measurement and Evaluation of Zero-carbon Industrial Parks, which was proposed and centralized by the Market Supervision and Administration Bureau of the Inner Mongolia Mongolia Autonomous Region and drafted by the Institute of Metrology and Testing of the Inner Autonomous Region, was released on June 23, 2023, which solves the problem of how to evaluate the construction results of zero-carbon industrial parks and provides standardized procedures and methods for the core issue of carbon emission accounting and evaluation.