Icelandic energy company Enex, owned by Reykjavík Energy Company and Geysir Green Energy, is planning to help construct a geothermal heating system in China ten to 12 times bigger than that in Reykjavík.
Enex is already participating in constructing the world’s largest geothermal heating utility in the Chinese city of Xianyang in Shaanxi province, Morgunbladid reports.
“We haven’t examined in detail what our opportunities are,” said Enex managing director Lárus Elíasson. He said Icelandic knowledge is useful in China as the need for energy is in rapid growth and coinciding with the country’s economic growth of ten percent annually.
Elíasson and Zhao Zhengyong, the first assistant governor of Shaanxi (pop. 40 million) who visited Iceland last week, agree that Iceland and China’s cooperation on energy issues should expand further.
Zhengyong said the next step will be cooperation on hydrogen research and that China’s Premier of the State Council Wen Jiabao is personally interested in the countries’ cooperation on energy issues.
Enex’s operations in China are managed by Shaanxi Green Energy, owned by Enex China and CGCO, which is owned by Sinopec, one of China’s largest oil companies.
Click here to read about free trade talks between Iceland and China and here to read about Glitnir Bank’s operations in China.
