Sino-German Demonstration Project on Energy Efficiency in Industry

Background and Objective

Due to rapidly growing energy consumption and rising environmental problems, China is striving to significantly improve energy efficiency, especially in the industrial sector which accounts for around 70% of primary energy consumption in China. With its vision of an Energy Revolution, China has set the goal of peaking carbon dioxide emissions before 2030, reaching CO₂ neutrality by 2060, and reducing energy intensity per unit of GDP by more than 65% by 2030. Between 2005 and 2017, China already achieved an energy intensity reduction of 39.8%. However, China’s energy intensity remains at a relatively high level compared to Germany and other OECD countries.

Against this background, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH implements the demonstration project on energy saving in China's industry sector jointly with the the National Energy Conservation Center (NECC) of China. The demonstration project is part of the Sino-German Energy Partnership between the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) and the National Development and Reform Commission of the PR China (NDRC).

The overall aim of the project is to achieve a significant increase in energy efficiency in China’s energy-intensive industry, contribute to the reduction of GHG emissions in China, and strengthen the private sector cooperation between China and Germany.

Project approach & progress

Phase I (2017- 2019)

In the demonstration project’s first phase (2017-2019), based on different technical criteria, the project team selected six pilot companies from various industrial branches (airport, cement, ceramics, glass fiber, paper, power generation) and conducted energy audits. Based on the audit results, the project team proposed tailored and financially sustainable measures (both cross-sectoral and process-specific efficiency measures) to reduce energy consumption and emissions. 75 different energy saving measures were identified for both cross-sectional and industry-specific technologies, the 20 most profitable of which were implemented, or the implementation initiated. The communication of these results and experiences promotes energy efficiency measures in other industrial enterprises and thus leverages large energy efficiency improvement and emission reduction potentials across China.

Further outputs from phase I include, among others, the introduction of life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) to China, capacity building for energy-efficient solutions and processes as well as energy audits and energy management in industrial companies, legislative framework development for energy audits in China and a strengthened private sector cooperation between China and Germany.

Phase II (2020-2022)

In the second project phase, GIZ and its partners will continue to disseminate the experiences and results of phase I, continue their support for the implementation of further energy efficiency measures in the pilot companies with an active involvement of German energy efficiency technology companies, and strengthen the capacities of representatives of the six pilot industries for sector-specific energy efficiency measures.

Outputs of phase II (excerpt):

• Continuous support for the implementation of energy efficiency measures in pilot companies and involvement of German industry;
• Development and dissemination of technical guidelines for industry-specific energy efficiency measures in the pilot sectors;
• Dissemination of project experiences and results via sector-specific workshops and ‘roadshows’;
• Capacity building on and development of further training materials for life cycle cost analyses.