SIEMENS

China is confronted today by an unprecedented wave of urbanization. In just the last few decades, hundreds of millions of people have moved into cities from the countryside, and well over half a billion Chinese now live in urban areas. By 2030 - in just 20 years - that number might double. The new urban residents will need housing, electricity, and water. In addition, the continuously growing Chinese middle class is further increasing the country’s huge appetite for energy by purchasing more and more electrical appliances such as vacuum cleaners and microwaves. The middle class will also continue to buy cars as long as public transport systems in the cities remain overburdened. Traffic jams and days of smog are already the rule; as a result, China is now the world’s largest producer of pollutant emissions.

The Chinese government is constantly searching for effective infrastructure solutions that can address 21st-century urban requirements. In some cases the government is being helped here by Siemens, a company whose involvement in China dates back 130 years and whose experience includes the introduction of efficient technologies in many Chinese cities. Siemens coordinates all of its activities in China from its headquarters in Beijing, a 123-meter-high glass tower that was inaugurated in August 2008. Thanks to a smart building management system, its own wastewater recycling system, and a heat recovery system, the building requires about 30 percent less energy than comparable buildings without such technology.

Two major events will dominate 2010 in China: the Asian Games in Guangzhou (November 12-27) and the EXPO 2010 in Shanghai (May 1- October 31. See box). China would like to use these events to demonstrate its ability to overcome the challenges associated with urbanization. The Asian Games will be the highlight of the year in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province in southern China. Preparations have been running at full speed for several years now, with workers hammering, building, and renovating around the clock. Guangzhou, which has over ten million residents, intends to put its best foot forward by ensuring professional management of the millions of sports fans who will stream into the city.

Public transportation is a key area. “Guangzhou will expand its subway network from five to eight lines in time for the Asian Games, and an additional seven lines will be added by 2020,” says Liu Hao from Siemens’ Mobility Division. His team and colleagues, including local partners, are managing the delivery of 79 subway trains for three subway projects to the city’s public transport operator. Siemens has equipped these trains with, among other things, intelligent control technologies and a propulsion system that converts braking energy into electricity that is then fed back into the grid. “The propulsion system can result in significant energy savings,” says Liu.

The extent to which the expansion of the subway system will affect road traffic is gradually becoming clear. Today, some 3.6 million people use the system. Following the system’s expansion, however, passengers will be able to travel to Guangzhou’s new railway station, which will be opened in time for the Asian Games.

Serving some 200,000 people per day, it will be the biggest train station in Asia. The Guangzhou New Railway Station will feature Siemens switching systems, which will ensure reliable distribution of electricity.

Guangzhou obtains much of its power from hydroelectric plants located 1,400 kilometers away in Yunnan province. The delivery of electricity over such a long distance is made possible by what is currently the world’s longest and most powerful high-voltage direct current transmission system.

Built by Siemens, the transmission system transports cleanly-produced power at a record 800,000 volts and an output of 5,000 megawatts to the megacities on China’s southeastern coast. The network supplies up to five million households with electricity; its use of hydropower also reduces China’s annual CO₂ emissions by 33 million tons as compared to the same output achieved with coal (see article “China´s River of Power”, Pictures of the Future 2/2009).

One of the major consumers of this clean power will be the West Tower, whose height of 432 meters will make it the second-tallest building in China. After it opens in October 2010, the glass giant will be visible from a distance of several kilometers at night - thanks to more than 10,000 LED fixtures from Osram, which will underscore the building’s diamond-patterned facade.

“Special software will regulate each LED and the color of the light it produces,” explains Li Gang, Osram project manager in Guangzhou. “Osram offered the best computer-controlled illumination system from a single source. Our LEDs also consume up to 80 percent less electricity than conventional outdoor lighting systems, and with a lifespan of around 50,000 hours, they also last much longer.”

Symbol of Urbanization. While Guangzhou is impressive, it offers only a taste of things to come in Shanghai, China’s most important industrial city and one of the fastest-growing cities in the world. Shanghai’s population nearly doubled between 1990 and 2008. Today, with about 14 million people, its population density is 7,200 residents per square kilometer, double that of Berlin. No other city in China symbolizes the country’s fast pace of development as does Shanghai, where growth can be seen everywhere. Considering all of this, it’s no surprise that the city is Siemens’ most important market in China. Back in 1904 the company opened its first permanent office for China in Shanghai. Today, Siemens’ employs 13,000 people in Shanghai, making it the company’s largest location outside of Germany. All of Siemens’ sectors are represented here - and all of them have helped make Shanghai more efficient (see article “City of Superlatives”, Pictures of the Future 1/2004).

But Shanghai’s exuberance comes at a price. The city’s energy requirements are growing by more than 1,000 megawatts (MW) per year. This huge thirst for energy is being quenched by facilities like the Waigaoqiao coal-fired power station, where Siemens has installed several 1,000 MW steam turbines and generators. Today, Waigaoqiao is one of the most efficient coal-fired power stations in the world and covers approximately 30 percent of Shanghai’s power requirements.

But despite Waigaoqiao and many other power plants, Shanghai’s energy authority is being pushed to the limits of its capacity. In December 2009, the city’s electricity requirement reached 19,000 MW on some days, and a power shortage seemed imminent.

To meet the growing need for electricity in Shanghai and throughout the country, China plans to build not only powerful coal-fired plants but also more facilities that utilize renewable and CO₂-free energy sources. The focus here is on wind power. In May 2009 China’s national energy agency announced plans to generate 100 giga - watts (GW) of power with wind energy by 2020. By comparison, 120 GW of power is now produced with wind worldwide, which means that China may soon become the world’s biggest market for wind energy. Siemens is therefore expanding its global production network for wind power plants. Among other things, the company is building a new rotor blade plant in the Lingang New City industrial area just outside of Shanghai.