Wenzhou, Zhejiang: Successfully Tackling the Challenges of Building Zero-Carbon Villages in Mountainous Areas

In recent years, Wencheng County in Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, has successfully overcome the challenges of developing zero-carbon villages in mountainous regions, providing replicable and scalable experience for mountain villages striving for green transformation.

Wuyang Village, located at an average altitude of 800 meters, boasts an excellent ecological environment and has been selected as one of Zhejiang's first batch of zero-carbon rural demonstration villages. However, at the early stage of its zero-carbon construction, the village faced multiple difficulties, including insufficient utilization of clean energy and unstable power supply.

To address these challenges, State Grid Wenzhou Power Supply Company put forward an innovative and systematic solution featuring "energy revolution + digital empowerment + cultural integration."

Employees of State Grid Wenzhou Power Supply Company promote safe electricity use among residents of Wuyang Village

State Grid Wenzhou Power Supply Company has integrated dispersed clean energy resources to enable local consumption and flexible distribution, while building a "1+N" energy system to achieve precise power supply. The village's microgrid can operate independently for more than six hours in off-grid mode, ensuring reliable electricity even during extreme weather. Additionally, the "Carbon-Electricity Brain" platform was developed to accurately track the carbon footprint of every kilowatt-hour of electricity, providing valuable data support for rural governance.

Since the implementation of the project, Wuyang Village has embraced a new energy model characterized by "no power outages during thunderstorms, no charcoal used for cooking, rooftop power generation, and income from surplus electricity." The village's annual collective income has grown from just over 100,000 yuan to 1.13 million yuan, with each household earning an average of 8,500 yuan more per year and reducing carbon emissions by 0.975 tons annually. To date, the project has resulted in 13 academic paper and patents, and its model has been replicated across several areas of Wenzhou, offering a successful example for zero-carbon rural construction. (Text/Photo by Qiu Tao)