In Hainan Tibetan autonomous prefecture of Gonghe county in northwestern China's Qinghai province, millions of dark blue photovoltaic panels are spread out on the green plateau.

The county is among a number of areas around the country producing green electricity to power the venues of the Hangzhou Asian Games, which will be the first carbon-neutral event in the history of the continental sports gala.

According to Zhuang Xiaodan, director of the trading department of Zhejiang Electric Power Trading Center Co. Ltd., the 56 competition venues of the 19th Asian Games have achieved full green electricity coverage.

On the digital screen of the Zhejiang Electric Power Trading Center, the green power monitoring system shows photovoltaic power being generated in Qaidam Basin in Qinghai province, Jiayuguan in Gansu province, and the Loess Plateau, among others, as well as wind power from Hami in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and other wind farms around the country.

In addition, green power such as photovoltaics and offshore wind power in Zhejiang province are also connected to the national grid to power the games.

According to official calculations, a single-crystal bifacial photovoltaic module in Gonghe county generates, on average, 2.2 kilowatt-hours of energy daily, which can power an energy-saving lamp in the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium for 220 hours.

Since the Asian Games green power trading was launched, the trading volume in the first half of this year reached 621 million kilowatt hours, which is equivalent to approximately 76,320 tons of standard coal in emission reductions, Zhuang said.

At the same time, the State Grid Hangzhou Power Supply Company has ensured the full coverage of charging piles at the venues to build a green travel service system in and around key areas.

The company has built a total of 102 charging stations and 2,024 charging piles to ensure green travel services during the Asian Games, said Ma Chuang, director of the marketing department at State Grid Hangzhou Power Supply Company.

The charging station for new energy vehicles in the Asian Games Village, which started operation in July, is the first high-power wireless charging station in China.

"As the slogan of 'Asian Games for Better City' suggests, through the preparation for the Asian Games, we have been exploring how to establish the best charging service for electric vehicles to serve the residents in the long run," Ma said.

As of June 30, Hangzhou has built 1,588 public charging and swapping stations, and more than 21,000 public charging piles.

"We hope that with the help of large-scale international events such as the Asian Games, the concepts of green travel and low-carbon travel will be more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people," Ma added.

[email protected]