Hongyan Park transformed by 'green electricity'

In December 2023, Hongyan Park, Hangzhou's 100 percent zero-carbon Smart Park, was recognized as one of 26 cutting-edge transformational models in the "2023 Corporate Climate Action Case Collection," a joint release by the Publicity and Education Center of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the Avenue Climate Change Promotion Center. What makes a park a model of cutting-edge transformation? What is the significance of the Yuhang 100 percent zero-carbon Smart Park? We visited the site to uncover the key factors of this demonstration project: great success, mutual support, and energy management.

Entrepreneurship and innovation

When I met Lin Jianjun, he was polishing a new product, an AI Smart Ring, a wearable device that can track the body temperature of employees on duty in real time.

Lin Jianjun came to Hangzhou from his hometown in Fujian many years ago to start a business, and was also a pioneer of Hongyan Park. At the age of 40, he had a dream and stepped into the smart chip industry, a high risk field, and created a research company focused on digital intelligence, providing high-end smart chips, modules and AI intelligent application solutions.

The "AI intelligent ring" is one of Lin Jianjun's creations. Another standout product is the passive wireless sensor chip.

In the summer of 2023, at the "Hongyan Plan" launch event, Lin Jianjun encountered Zhou Yannan, an employee of Zhejiang Zhedian Industry Development Co., Ltd., who was drenched with sweat after spending two hours in the 40 degree of hot power distribution room.

 Through that fortuitous encounter, Lin learned that more than 80 percent of power failures are caused by component overheating. A possible solution to the problem was a digital twin switch station. "There are thousands of power distribution rooms in Hangzhou, and there is a huge market demand to solve this problem." Lin Jianjun said. “To develop the digital twin switch station, we have to solve two problems, the signal monitoring of the sensor and the transmission of the alarm signal” he explained.

It didn't take long for the first problem to be solved, but the second issue was a bigger challenge due to changes in the materials and shape of different RF signal carriers, which affect RF signal transmission, so it is necessary to constantly simulate signal transmission and design an optimal scheme for RF signals.

"There was no money for high-level engineers." Mr Lin said with a laugh, "At that time, the company was at an impasse," Fortunately, Lin Jianjun later found an antenna engineer from Bei Dou and in six months of hard work, the team produced a chip that was a great success.

Today, this smart temperature sensor chip has been upgraded and has far surpassed industry standards. "Thanks to Zhou Ban, the source of inspiration often strikes in unexpected moments." Lin Jianjun said.

Hongyan Park transformed by 'green electricity'

Green electricity opens the door to a revival

Zhou Yanan has a lot to say about Hongyan Park. In January 2022, he was appointed as a manager and tasked with creating a 100 percent zero-carbon smart park.

Initially, the transformation from old factories and scrap iron to a modern, eco-friendly park seemed daunting. "At that time, Hongyan Park was forced to close because of environmental problems," Mr Zhou said.

In May 2022, the Yuhang Future Innovation Park Hongyan Park was officially inaugurated.  Reborn from a comprehensive upgrade of the old industrial park into a hub of technological advancement and industry talent, the park focuses on the introduction of cutting-edge biodegradable materials, photoelectric energy, low-carbon technology, and high-end medical equipment. At present, more than 40 high-end and sophisticated enterprises have settled in the park. 

"With the rapid increase in the number of internal enterprises and the scale of production, the continuous increase of electrical equipment and the rapid increase of electrical load, the original transformer capacity of the park is not enough to meet the demand of enterprises." The director of Hongyan Park explained “This, coupled with the extensive energy management method and the lack of network interaction ability, results in the increase of coal burning and carbon emission while using electricity.”

However, for a zero-carbon park, 30 percent green electricity wasn’t enough. Zhou Yanan’s efforts to engage in green electricity trading and purchase photovoltaic power led to a 100 percent zero-carbon upgrade in 2023, with 2.4 million kWh of green electricity purchased.

In the past three years, Hongyan Park’s electricity consumption increased by 170 percent, yet every new kilowatt hour remained green, thanks to advanced power planning by Zhejiang Da You Group. The introduction of a unique green electricity transaction model created a reserve to meet the park’s growing green energy needs.

To address these challenges, Zhejiang Da You Group has specially established an enterprise energy use account for the park, optimizing energy management, and striving to achieve a 100 percent zero-carbon smart park called Da You Zuo Wei.

Achieving green energy supply in the park is the main reason for the construction of a zero-carbon smart park. Standing in the Future Science and Technology City of Yuhang District, the roof of Hongyan Park is covered with blue photovoltaic panels, generating over 51,600 kWh of green electricity annually, which constitutes more than 30 percent of the park’s energy needs.

However, for Hongyan Park, which aims to build a zero-carbon park, 30 percent of green electricity is obviously not enough. With the help of Zhou Yanan, the park actively participated in green electricity trading, purchased photovoltaic power generators and achieved green energy consumption and zero carbonization within the park. In 2023, the park had purchased 2.4 million KWH of green electricity, achieving a 100 percent zero- carbon -upgrade of the park.

During the last three years, the annual electricity consumption of Hongyan Park has increased by 170 percent, but each new kilowatt hour of electricity in the park consists of green electricity.

Thanks to the advanced power planning of Zhejiang Da You Group for the park, the launch of a unique green consumption electricity transaction is like a pre-built green electricity reservoir which can respond to an increase in demand at any time.

One-click green power control 

Efficient energy use is essential for a zero-carbon park. Zhejiang Da You Group developed a low-carbon park management system, allowing real-time monitoring of energy data and optimizing energy use. Ling Feng from Zhejiang Da You Group explained, "The system provides a clear overview of energy usage, helping to manage it effectively."

In 2023, Zhejiang Da You Group integrated power supply with energy efficiency by installing sensors in public areas to improve transformer operation and reduce energy wastage. The system can automatically turn off idle elevators and other energy-consuming equipment, to adjust the energy loads of air conditioning, photovoltaic systems, energy storage, charging piles and public areas during peak periods. By visual displaying the energy flow through the energy flow diagram, it helps users achieve intelligent and efficient energy management, reducing waste and costs" Through digital twin technology, the system can also dynamically sense the operating status of electrical equipment in the park and the future load trend to analyze and issue early warnings," Ling Feng said.

Making full use of green electricity 

The journey of Zhejiang Da You Group's zero-carbon park continues. In Hongyan Park, each kilowatt-hour of electricity has played a greater role because of the director system management.
For a long time, the internal distribution equipment of the enterprise lacked professional operation and maintenance management as well as a professional power service platform, this resulted in unmet demands for energy.

To address these difficulties, Zhejiang Da You Group launched the Dali Electricity Director project, which provides a platform for online and offline power operation, enhancing energy management and extending equipment life through timely maintenance and repairs.

Nowadays, the Dali Electricity Director is an exclusive power manager of the enterprise, which can not only meet the daily electricity demand of the enterprise, but also monitor conditions in real time, and issue early warnings of power failures. More importantly, the Electricity Director can also help enterprises optimize the energy structure and promote transformation and upgrading.

Since the park’s transformation, the zero Carbon Park has seen an increase of more than 30 percent in 50 green factories and 17 smart workshops, . Ling Feng explained that "The system’s 'one-click query' function offers users easy access to power consumption data analysis, information about energy consumption , and power outage warnings. The system also automatically generates a monthly electricity consumption analysis report to provide personalized energy management solutions according to the needs of the enterprise."

Data show that since the construction of the zero-carbon smart park, the cumulative annual power generation has been 640,000 KWH, carbon emissions have been reduced by 192.52 tons, and standard coal usage has been reduced by about 4.81 million tons, which is equivalent to the afforestation of more than 18,880 trees.

The park achievents are attracting more entrepreneurs and have inspired Zhejiang Da You Group to replicate this model in other industrial parks such as Renhe Cai Niao Logistics Park in Yuhang District.