Solar District Heating on the “Roof of the World”

The first large-scale solar district heating system in Tibet has now been put into operation in Langkazi providing the inhabitants with a steady supply of heat. Chinese-Danish joint venture company Arcon-Sunmark Large-Scale Solar Systems Integration Co., Ltd. has completed the project in just nine months. New projects in the same region are expected to be initiated in 2019.

In December 2018 a new large-scale solar district heating system in the Tibetan town Langkazi began supplying the citizens with energy. The 22,000 m² solar collector field will from now on cover more than 90% of the heat demand in Langkazi. The system also has a 15,000 m³ storage pit in order to store the energy so it can be used when demanded. As part of the project a 25,000 meter long piping infrastructure has been constructed in the town in order to connect 82,000 m² households to the solar district heating system. Furthermore, the majority of the households have not had proper heating installations prior to this project, but now they have access to heat throughout the year.

It is Arcon-Sunmark Large-Scale Solar Systems Integration Co., Ltd. – which has been established as a joint venture company by Chinese Jiangsu Sunrain and Danish ArconSunmark – that has designed, planned and developed the solar district heating system and supply grid from A to Z.

”This is a pioneering project within renewable energy in general and solar district heating in particular. The citizens of Langkazi now have one of the cleanest heating supplies in the entire world. We are proud to have been part of this project which truly demonstrates what Chinese and Danish ingenuity collectively can lead to. We hope to be able to start up new projects in 2019,” says Dr. Aaron Feng Gao, Managing Director, Arcon-Sunmark Large-Scale Solar Systems Integration Co., Ltd.

Langkazi is located on the Tibetan Plateau which is 4,600 meters above sea level. This high altitude location is also fairly remote and therefore represented a supply chain puzzle when organizing the construction of the solar district heating system and supply grid. Despite the challenges the whole endeavor has been completed in just nine months. Arcon-Sunmark has previously developed solar heating systems for e.g. mines located in remote areas of the Andes Mountain Range in South America, and know-how from these projects was also put into use in Langkazi.

Specialists from Arcon-Sunmark will in the coming months train personnel from the local municipality in operating the SDH system, but until then the joint venture company will be responsible for the daily management.

Source: Arcon-Sunmark