High-Quality Development of China's Geothermal Industry - China Country Report of the World Geothermal Congress 2023

Abstract

With the strong demand for clean heating, China has gradually formed a geothermal development path that focuses on heating and cooling, driving China's geothermal direct utilization to rank first in the world for many years and providing new ideas for international geothermal development. By the end of 2021, China's geothermal heating and cooling capacity reach 1.33 billion square meters, including 530 million square meters of geothermal district heating capacity and 800 million square meters of ground source heat pump heating and cooling capacity. The annual utilization capacity of hot springs is 6665 MW, and the annual utilization capacity of agriculture and food processing is 1108 MW. The actual operating installed capacity of geothermal power generation is 16 MW. The number of geothermal enterprises has increased and become stronger, including Sinopec Group as the largest geothermal enterprise with a heating capacity of over 80 million square meters. A more systematic geothermal standard system consisting of national standards, industry standards and local standards has been gradually formed. Technologies applicable to different types of geothermal resource exploration and development and utilization have been developed, and the R&D and test projects of borehole heat exchange technology and hot dry rock technology are also advancing in an orderly way. Geothermal professional talent cultivation is accelerating continuously. A series of regional geothermal heating and cooling projects with a scale of millions of square meters have been successively built. To support the achievement of the "Dual Carbon" goals, the Chinese government has introduced a number of geothermal support policies. The 2023 World Geothermal Congress will be held in Beijing, China, contributing to increased attention from the government and the public towards the geothermal industry. These favorable policies and news will promote the continued high-quality development of China's geothermal industry during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period. In the coming years, the focus of industrial development will remain on geothermal heating in northern China, geothermal heating and cooling in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, as well as geothermal power generation in and around the Tibet Plateau.