SOEs & Winter Olympics: POWERCHINA supports Beijing 2022

Power Construction Corporation of China (POWERCHINA) played its role as a central state-owned enterprise (SOE) to support the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

High-speed train to competition zone

The Games were held in three competition zones in downtown Beijing, the capital's northwest Yanqing district and co-host Zhangjiakou in North China's Hebei Province. The Beijing-Zhangjiakou High-speed Railway, the country's first smart high-speed railway to be put into operation, became the most convenient transportation to travel between the competition zones.

POWERCHINA played a role in construction of a 33.38-kilometer section of the railway which included 11 subgrades, 12 bridges and two tunnels.

Athletes and other passengers were able to have a smooth and enjoyable travel experience thanks to a series of high technologies like facial scanning ticket checking and smart navigation within stations.

Olympic venue construction

POWERCHINA also participated in survey, design and supervision work of the Olympic venues.

For example, it was responsible for design and building of the water-related supporting facilities of the skiing sites and provided water guarantee service for the National Biathlon Center and the National Ski Jumping Center.

The company also built a bridge to ensure smooth connection between the eastern and western Chongli.

Windproof facility

Athletes were easily impacted by strong winds in the skiing competitions as they had to jump from high places and perform actions in the air. Therefore, windproof measures were crucial during the Games.

In order to keep the athletes safe, POWERCHINA Hebei Electric Power Engineering Co., Ltd. and Shijiazhuang Tiedao University jointly developed a windproof net system that effectively cut down on strong winds.

The windproof net is only 4 millimeters thick but can resist 20 metric tons of tension.

The windproof net wall consists of the snow-white nets and supporting towers, and is easy to install at low cost.

What's more, it can be easily folded and unfolded through a low temperature-resistant power control system.

A view of the windproof net wall at the skiing competition site [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

Reliable power supply

The Zhangbei flexible direct current (DC) power grid project played a key role in supplying stable clean power to the Olympic venues.

Several POWERCHINA subsidiaries joined in its design and construction. 

The project also helped store and distribute the clean energy. It is currently the first direct DC power grid project with network features and has the highest voltage and largest power transmission capacity in the world.

The project is able to transmit about 14.1 billion kilowatt-hours of clean power annually, which can meet the annual power demands of 26 Winter Olympic venues in Beijing and Zhangjiakou. It was also the key for 100 percent clean energy-based power supply of the sports venues for the Beijing 2022.

Clean power generators

Standing on icy land in Zhangbei in North Hebei are high wind turbines. They were the main generators of the clean power transmitted to the Winter Olympic venues.

The four wind farms constructed by POWERCHINA are in full operation. With a total installed capacity of 400 megawatts, they can supply about 960 million kWh of power to the grid annually, which equals the energy produced by about 300,000 tons of standard coal and represents a reduction of about 790,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year.

A view of the Batou Wind Farm in Zhangbei, Zhangjiakou [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

The Kangbao wind power project in Kangbao County, Zhangjiakou, was also a main power source for the Games. With a designed total capacity of 450 MW, the project is able to generate about 1.04 billion kWh of power annually, an equivalent to burning 320,000 tons of standard coal and a reduction of 850,000 tons of carbon dioxide. It also contributes to Beijing's clean heating supply.

Besides the wind power projects, POWERCHINA's 800-MW internet-based smart energy demonstration project in Zhangbei also provided power to the Games and at the same time has boosted local economic development and poverty alleviation.

The project has an annual power generation volume of 1.5 billion kWh, which eliminates use of 616,600 tons of standard coal and a resulting 1.54 million tons of carbon dioxide, 46,300 tons of sulfur dioxide and 23,200 tons of nitric oxide.

A view of the 800-MW internet-based smart energy demonstration project in Zhangbei County [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

The Fengning Pumped Storage Power Station designed and built by POWERCHINA contributed to reliable, green and clean power supply for the Games.

Equipped with twelve 300,000-kilowatt generator units, the station has the world's largest installed capacity, best power storage capacity, and largest underground workshop scale and underground cavern group.

Once fully operational, the station is expected to be able to store about 8.7 billion kWh of surplus electrical energy annually.

It is anticipated that the station can generate about 6.6 billion kWh of power per year, equaling that produced by burning about 480,000 tons of standard coal and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 1.2 million tons.

(Executive editor: Niu Yilin)