In Jiangsu's Binhai County, a giant "cold charging station" has been built along the coast, fostering the emergence of new industries. At the land-based recirculating aquaculture base of Taowan Marine Ranch in Binhai County, schools of salmon swim in the fish ponds. Technician Wang Chenhao, who has farmed freshwater fish for over a decade, is raising marine fish for the first time. "They are expected to hit the market in the second half of the year, selling for over a hundred yuan per jin!" he said. How can high-value fish species like Atlantic salmon and steelhead trout, originally native to high-latitude seas, thrive in Binhai where the average annual seawater temperature exceeds 20 degrees Celsius? The answer lies within the ten massive CNOOC liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage tanks at Binhai Port. Binhai Port hosts the nation's largest LNG reserve base, with approximately 3 million tons of LNG arriving annually via sea transport. LNG at minus 162 degrees Celsius must exchange heat with seawater to warm up and convert into a gaseous state for use. "The heat from the seawater transfers to the natural gas, while the cold energy from the natural gas transfers to the seawater," explained Liu Decan, Director of the Binhai County Development and Reform Commission. Each ton of LNG releases 50 kilowatt-hours of cold energy during regasification. Based on the annual turnover at Binhai Port, this amounts to 150 million kilowatt-hours of releasable cold energy. If such a massive amount of cold energy were directly discharged into the sea, it would not only waste resources but also impact the marine ecosystem. How to collect and utilize it? In June 2024, Binhai County entered into a technical collaboration with the Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences to establish a base for cold energy utilization in marine fish farming. In the seawater delivery pipelines, temperatures are monitored in real-time. A continuous flow of cold seawater maintains the fish pond temperature at around 16 degrees Celsius. "The first phase is already operational, and the second phase will commence within the year. At full capacity, it will supply 3,000 tons of cold-water fish annually, with an annual output value of 200 million yuan," introduced Lü Haijun, Chairman of the Binhai County Agricultural Tourism Group. "Cold energy + fisheries" is just the tip of the iceberg for the "cold industry." In the Binhai Port Economic Zone stands a silver-gray giant "cold charging station"—the Cold Energy Exchange Center. It connects to the port's LNG storage tanks on one end and the Cold Energy Comprehensive Utilization Demonstration Zone on the other. Leveraging an annual capacity to process 2 million tons of LNG cold energy, the center recovers cold energy into liquid carbon dioxide. Through heat exchange units, it then precisely delivers cold energy at different temperature ranges to various application scenarios within the demonstration zone. Inside the production workshop of Jiangsu Qinghe Freeze-Drying Technology Co., Ltd., located in the demonstration zone, strawberries are dehydrated and freshness-locked using liquid carbon dioxide at minus 46 degrees Celsius supplied by the "cold charging station." This process preserves the fresh fruit's shape and nutritional content without damage, significantly increasing its value—freeze-dried strawberries sell for 180,000 yuan per ton and are exported to European and American markets. "The freeze-drying industry is a major energy consumer, with electricity costs accounting for half of production expenses," said Xu Da, the company's General Manager Assistant. After utilizing cold energy, the freeze-drying time decreased from 22 hours to 18 hours, reducing costs by one-third. Upon official operation this autumn, the company expects an annual output of 7,200 tons of freeze-dried food, with annual sales reaching 1 billion yuan. Looking out from the third floor of the Cold Energy Exchange Center reveals a hotbed of cold energy industry activity: From minus 40-degree Celsius quick-freeze cold storage to minus 30-degree Celsius cold chain logistics; from minus 18-degree Celsius ice and snow worlds to 10-degree Celsius constant-temperature factory buildings... some projects are under construction, while others are already operational. Industries with vastly different requirements are forming a new industrial cluster through comprehensive cold energy utilization. Among the new projects, the Marine Intelligent Computing Center completed its main structure last year and is now constructing supporting facilities. "The cold energy pipeline network has been connected, which will assist in cooling 3,000 racks and IT load servers with a computing power of 30 megawatts," introduced Wang Huan, Deputy Director of the Binhai Port Economic Zone Management Committee. The Intelligent Computing Center not only provides computing services but also plays a significant role in offshore wind power operation and maintenance, as well as marine scientific research simulations. "Cold energy is not a niche concept; it brings hot industries," said Kong Hui, Deputy County Mayor of Binhai County. According to Binhai County's comprehensive development and utilization plan for LNG cold energy resources, the cold energy industry is projected to reach a scale of tens of billions of yuan in output value during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period.
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