In Xingsheng village, Baofeng town, Pingluo county, Shizuishan city, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, the dark blue photovoltaic panels on the rooftops are glittering under the sunlight. They are absorbing the warm winter sun and continuously generating clean electricity for the use of villagers' households. The villagers here have bid farewell to firewood, fire, and charcoal. All aspects of daily household farming and breeding have been electrified. The living environment of the villagers has been greatly improved, and their happiness index has risen significantly. "Cooking without coal, farm machinery without smoke, rooftops capable of generating electricity, and surplus electricity can be sold for money" has become a new way of production and life for the villagers in Xingsheng village.
Recently, at the "11th National Conference on Nearly Zero Energy Consumption and Zero Carbon Buildings" held in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, Xingsheng village was rated as the Nearly Zero Energy Consumption Rural Housing Project in 2024 and became the first "zero-carbon village" in the Ningxia region.
Rural emissions reduction and rural carbon neutrality play a pivotal role in the process of the country achieving its "dual carbon" goals. Since 2021, Xingsheng village has, in combination with the relocation of hollow villages, the renovation of old villages and the improvement of the rural living environment, actively sought project funds and implemented the "New Zero-Carbon Village" construction project to promote the clean, low-carbon transformation and development of the countryside and contribute to rural revitalization. Through the integration of technologies such as PVT hot water, BIPV (building integrated photovoltaic), space energy green constant heat station for heating and cooling, EIT energy storage, photovoltaic storage direct-flexible microgrid, and cloud intelligent energy internet of things, nearly zero energy consumption and emissions in buildings have been achieved, which can meet the villagers' annual needs for heating, cooling, lighting, fresh air, hot water, new energy vehicles and electricity for electric cooking, greatly improving the quality of residential houses and enhancing the living environment and the sense of happiness of the residents.
According to statistics, the total energy savings of the "Zero-Carbon Village" demonstration area project is about 754,380 kWh per year, which is equivalent to 396.1 tons of standard coal per year. It can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 978.4 tons, sulfur oxide emissions by 7.92 tons and dust emissions by 3.96 tons every year.
Rural revitalization starts with power supply. The State Grid Shizuishan Power Supply Company has actively coordinated with the development and construction of Xinsheng village in Baofeng town, strengthened the construction and renovation of power grid infrastructure. It has newly built two 200-kVA transformers and two intelligent distribution transformer terminals for the village, erected 1.5 kilometers of high- and low-voltage lines, and newly constructed 28 poles and towers. It has opened a green service channel for new energy business covering "application for installation - approval - installation - operation and maintenance", promoted the dual-channel approach of both online application for installation and offline services. Combined with the online new energy application and installation platform, it provides one-stop handling of new energy application and installation services to enhance users' sense of satisfaction and experience with power supply. It regularly inspects key parts such as inverters, photovoltaic meters, switches and line routes of photovoltaic users, eliminates potential safety hazards in a timely manner, and improves the reliability of distributed photovoltaic power generation. Meanwhile, the workers explained the precautions in daily maintenance and common troubleshooting methods to guide photovoltaic customers to fully master the knowledge of photovoltaic power generation equipment maintenance, effectively enhance their awareness of safe management and protection, and help them increase efficiency and income.
