Three Bao'an projects included in SZ's near-zero carbon pilot list

Bao’an District has three projects included in Shenzhen’s recently announced selection of near-zero carbon emission pilot projects.

Notably, the Luotian Water Plant New Construction Project (Phase 1) was named one of the city’s first A-class near-zero carbon park pilots. Only two projects in Shenzhen have received that top designation.

According to the Bao’an branch of the Shenzhen Municipal Ecological Environment Bureau, the district has built a diversified near-zero carbon pilot portfolio across multiple types of sites, with 11 district-level pilot projects in total.

A computer-generated image of Luotian Water Plant New Construction Project (Phase 1).

The Luotian project adopted green, low-carbon principles from the planning and design stages. The plant adopts a full-process, gravity-flow design to minimize energy-intensive lifting and deploys 2,542 kWp of distributed rooftop and ground-mounted photovoltaics (PV), with expected annual generation of about 2.73 million kWh. The project targets a renewable energy utilization rate above 50% and integrates a smart water operations platform for full-process carbon accounting, monitoring and visualization.

After commissioning, the plant’s comprehensive electricity consumption per unit of output is expected to fall to approximately 99 kWh — a 41% reduction compared with the industry benchmark. Combined with on-site PV generation and the purchase of green certificates, the project aims to achieve 100% carbon offsetting and serve as a replicable model for zero-carbon urban water supply infrastructure.

Also on the city’s pilot list is Shajing Rainbow Shopping Center, Shenzhen’s first mall developed under a “carbon-inclusive closed-loop” concept. Energy-saving retrofits include high-performance glazed coatings and the replacement of conventional chillers with maglev central air-conditioning systems. The center will also install 1,200 kWp of rooftop PV paired with energy storage to reduce grid dependence and smooth peak loads.

The Greater Bay Area Intelligent E-commerce Operations & Logistics Center is Bao’an’s third entry. The logistics hub plans to install a 2 MW building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) system that is expected to generate more than 5 million kWh annually, and will fully electrify its vehicle fleet. A digital twin carbon management platform will enable real-time monitoring and control. By combining route-optimization algorithms, supplier carbon-rating mechanisms and reusable packaging programs, the project could achieve a 75.1% emissions reduction under a low-carbon scenario. In the near-zero scenario, remaining emissions would be offset to reach net-zero. The initiative could provide a scalable technical pathway for decarbonizing logistics supply chains.

Bao’an’s district-level near-zero carbon pilots now cover industrial parks, enterprises, commercial and cultural centers, and municipal facilities. The Bao’an branch said it will continue to boost public outreach, deepen pilot construction, and accelerate the development of visible, replicable green outcomes so that low-carbon growth becomes a defining feature of Bao’an’s high-quality development.