As an important energy base in China, Yulin City, Shaanxi Province is facing great transformation pressure under the background of “double carbon”. In order to achieve the goals of “double carbon” and “double control”, Yulin not only requires a number of energy and chemical projects to stop production and rectify, but also actively reduces the “two high” projects invested by more than 700 billion yuan.
For the safe and stable transformation of the energy system, Yulin city puts forward the idea of “three transformations and three subsidies”, changes the direction in energy development, industrial system and development power, deeply excavates local resource endowments, complements weaknesses with strengths, reshapes the industrial pattern, and strives to walk out of a “new Road” of green and low-carbon development.
Yulin is the core hinterland of China’s “west to East Coal Transportation” and “north to South Coal Transportation”, the important source of “west to East Gas Transmission” and the main starting point of “west to East power transmission”.
As a resource-based city, Yulin is “rich because of energy”, but under the new goal of “double carbon”, Yulin is “confused because of energy”: the energy industry accounts for more than 80% of the city’s industrial output value, and the coal industry accounts for half of the total industrial output value. It begins to encounter “new pains” such as single industrial structure, high energy consumption intensity and decline in fixed asset investment.
“The goal of ‘double carbon’ is the biggest challenge to Yulin in the past 30 years and will have a subversive impact on the past energy development path and industrial system.” Li Chunlin, Secretary of Yulin Municipal Party committee, said.
In order to curb the blind development of “two high” projects, Yulin takes “energy conservation” as the “threshold” for all project reviews. Therefore, 45 “two high” projects with a total investment of more than 700 billion yuan in Yulin’s “14th five year plan” have been reduced, a number of projects under construction have been stopped, and a number of projects put into operation have also been stopped for rectification. The industrial system dominated by energy industry has been greatly impacted, and the fixed asset investment has decreased by 24% in the third quarter of 2021.
“Labor pains” are inevitable, and carbon reduction is imperative. In order to break the path dependence of resource-based cities, Yulin has formed the development consensus of “high-carbon city and low-carbon development” based on the demonstration of a group of academicians and experts.
In order to ensure the security of national energy supply, Yulin will actively increase production and ensure supply in 2021, deal with the irrational rise of coal price, and undertake the task of ensuring supply of 26.62 million tons of coal. Yang Yang, vice chairman of Yulin Municipal Committee of the Chinese people’s Political Consultative Conference and director of the national development and Reform Commission, said: “carbon reduction is not simply ‘de coal’, but to reduce backward production capacity and increase green production capacity, so as to maintain effective growth in the total energy supply and ensure the security of national energy supply.”
In order to reshape the industrial pattern, Yulin promotes the industrial chain to move towards high-end and terminal, promotes the extension of coal based chemicals to high-end synthetic materials, high-end special chemicals, coal based polyester and degradable materials, and makes efforts to cultivate strategic emerging industries such as new energy, new materials, equipment manufacturing and hydrogen energy, so as to accelerate the transformation of old and new kinetic energy.
In order to realize scientific and technological innovation, Yulin plans to build a science and innovation new city of about 76 square kilometers, and introduce scientific research forces such as Chinese Academy of Sciences and Xi’an Jiaotong University to help the development of industries such as efficient conversion and utilization of coal, carbon dioxide capture and hydrogen energy. The carbon capture demonstration project of 150000t / a coal-fired power plant built by Guoneng Jinjie company has been successfully put into operation.
On the “new road” of low-carbon development, a number of strategic emerging industries in Yulin are bearing fruit: the 1000 ton graphene powder project has been completed and put into operation, and 11 projects under construction, including degradable plastics, flexible display and 5g monomer materials, with a total investment of nearly 20 billion yuan and a total investment of 5 billion yuan, have been implemented, The Huaqin hydrogen energy industrial park with a total investment of 18 billion yuan has accelerated the layout of the whole industrial chain, and the construction of Shaanxi steam hydrogen fuel cell heavy truck phase I project has been started… The development of emerging industries is showing a good momentum of comprehensive development and multi-point breakthroughs.
