China Targets 100% Clean Power for Xiongan New Area Near Beijing

(Bloomberg) -- China aims to supply a new economic zone being built near Beijing, known as the Xiongan New Area, with 100 percent clean electricity, according to Xinhua News Agency.

The goal is part of an ambitious plan by President Xi Jinping to remake a backwater region into a glittering new technology and innovation hub. Electricity will account for more than half of the energy consumption at Xiongan, Xinhua reported Sunday, without elaborating. State Grid Corp. of China has established a subsidiary to facilitate grid-planning, according to report.

China, the world’s biggest clean energy investor, wants to make Xiongan a sustainable city as it works to cap carbon emissions by around 2030. The nation announced its plans to set up the new city southwest of Beijing more than a year ago as part of Xi’s vision to shift various industries and government functions out of the capital and create a new Shenzhen-style economic zone.

“The new city is like a white piece of paper, it’s easy to design,” said Peng Peng, general secretary of China New Energy Investment and Financing Alliance, an industry group. “The new city will act as a guide for existing cities” to refine infrastructure.

Xiongan spans three counties. The infrastructure build-out will cover 100 square kilometers initially before expanding to 200 square kilometers and will eventually occupy a space of about 2,000 square kilometers, according to the government.

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Feifei Shen in Beijing at fshen11@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ramsey Al-Rikabi at ralrikabi@bloomberg.net, Aaron Clark, Abhay Singh

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With assistance from Feifei Shen