SIEMENS

”In September 2010 about 200 people will start work in Lingang. The blades they will produce will help us to generate an annual wind turbine output of 500 MW,” says Dr. Martin Meyer ter Vehn, General Manager of Siemens Wind Power Blades. “Over the long term, we plan to build both rotor blades and entire wind turbines in the 2.3 MW and 3.6 MW class in Lingang for China, the Asia-Pacific region, and other markets. We also plan to increase the facility’s maximum annual output to about 2,000 MW.” Meyer ter Vehn is certain that Siemens will be successful. “China has huge potential, especially in the offshore segment. That’s because the ocean here is very shallow for many kilometers off the coast, which makes it perfect for such facilities - and as the world market leader for offshore wind power plants, Siemens is the perfect supplier,” he says (see article “High Altitude Harvest”, Pictures of the Future 2/2009).

Strategies for Reducing Energy Demand. Still, it will take more than efficient electricity providers to ensure that a city like Shanghai gets the energy it needs. Energy consumption also has to be reduced, and this especially applies to Shanghai’s older buildings. Yangpu is a good example of how to address this problem. Formerly an industrial zone, the district now serves as Shanghai’s center of knowledge and innovation, housing the renowned Tongji and Fudan universities, among other facilities. To reduce Yangpu’s energy consumption, Siemens has entered into a strategic partnership with the district’s administration.

The initial goal is to employ state-of-the-art building technologies to reduce energy consumption by about 16 percent at the administrative headquarters, and later at the Yangpu Commercial Center office complex. Other buildings will follow. The client bears no financial risk, as an energy performance contracting model will allow the district to pay the installments for financing the project solely through the energy-cost savings achieved.

At EXPO 2010 Siemens will demonstrate how energy efficiency, comfort, and convenience can go hand in hand in Yangpu District. The company plans to open its new Shanghai headquarters in Yangpu to coincide with EXPO. The complex will consist of four glass office buildings housing some 2,000 employees. Thanks to efficient building technologies, heat pumps, and cold-storage and waste heat recovery systems, the complex’s energy use is expected to be about 25 percent below the U.S. standard for energy consumption. The company’s goal is to achieve a LEED certificate issued by the U.S. Green Building Council.

“Increasing building energy efficiency is one of Siemens’ biggest strengths in Shanghai,” says Dr. Meng Fanchen, Siemens General Manager in Shanghai. “Our goal - and that of China - involves much more than that, however. We need to align the infrastructure of entire cities with the needs of their populations and the requirements of environmental protection. We especially need to do so with the cities that are now being built to accommodate the 13 million people who move into urban areas from the countryside each year.” That’s why Siemens is working with Tongji University on eco-city models, which will be used to give these “instant cities” as sustainable a design as possible from the very beginning (see article “China´s Model Future”, Pictures of the Future 1/2010). “Along with energy supply and building management systems, this approach also includes an efficient public transport network, top-quality medical care, and the provision of clean drinking water,” says Meng.

These also happen to be areas in which Siemens boasts extensive expertise in Shanghai. The company is supplying key components for Shanghai’s subway system. For instance, Siemens is building 58 trains for Shanghai’s Line 11 - together with China’s CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co., Siemens systems will also be used to stabilize the energy supply for the new subway Line 13, which will shuttle between the city center and the EXPO site.

To improve medical care in Shanghai, Siemens is now planning a cutting-edge, IT-integrated, energy- saving and environmentally-friendly hospital in a public-private partnership with Tongji University and Germany-based hospital operating company Asklepios Kliniken. The new facility, which will be built in the Shanghai International Medical Zone, will feature state-of-the-art medical equipment and IT solutions from Siemens that offer patients high-quality and efficient treatment at affordable rates.

Affordable Drinking Water and Pig Iron. Siemens is also a pioneer in water treatment technology. At the end of 2009, the company completed construction of China’s largest ultrafiltration membrane facility in the city of Wuxi, one of Shanghai’s neighboring cities. The new plant can process 150,000 cubic meters of drinking water per day. The system forgoes chemical pretreatment and delivers high-quality water while taking up very little space. The plant’s operating costs are also lower than those of conventional water treatment facilities.

A similar efficiency coup is expected to be achieved with another Siemens-built facility in Shanghai. In November 2007, Siemens-VAI handed over the world’s largest Corex plant to steel giant Baosteel. The new facility has the capacity to produce 1.5 million tons of pig iron per year (see article “Metals for Megacities”, Pictures of the Future 2/2006). The Corex system requires no special coking coal or coking plant. This results in much lower material costs for pig iron production as compared with conventional processes.

The new plant in Shanghai has also reduced pollutant emissions by as much as 90 percent (see article “Products from Dust to Dust”, Pictures of the Future 1/2009 and see article “Efficiency Catches Fire”, Pictures of the Future 2/2009). What’s more, the Corex process produces a gas that can be used in a combined cycle plant to generate electricity in a cost-efficient manner - yet another benefit that Baosteel appreciates. The company commissioned Siemens to build a second Corex facility before the first was even finished. This technology could also develop into a huge success for Siemens, as China is currently producing approximately one half of the world’s steel. A cost-effective and environmentally friendly system such as Corex is therefore very interesting for the Chinese market.

“Whether it’s buildings, industrial plants, transport, or water supply - all the components needed for an eco-city are here,” says Dr. Meng. “Our job is to combine them to create infrastructure concepts aligned with the needs of entire cities.” Despite the huge urbanization challenges megacities like Shanghai or Guangzhou face, Meng believes China is on the right track. One can therefore expect EXPO 2010 to attract officials from major cities worldwide who are seeking the best ideas for sustainable urban development. EXPO’s motto - Better City, Better Life - will be just as much on display outside the Expo center in Shanghai as within the exposition gates.