Rooftop solar plant supports green upgrade of Shaoxing civil projects

The rooftop solar power plant of the Shaoxing Yangtze River Delta International Agricultural Products Trading Center. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The Shaoxing Yangtze River Delta International Agricultural Products Trading Center opened on Oct 23, and its rooftop solar power plant began supplying clean electricity. The market covers nearly 600 acres and has about 500,000 cubic meters of cold-chain storage. The market's round-the-clock cold storage operations require substantial electricity, making energy efficiency and emissions reduction key priorities.

State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power built a rooftop photovoltaic and lighting energy-saving project for the center. It uses about 90,000 square meters of roof space and nearly 20,000 panels, with 11.6 MW of installed capacity. Power is used first by the market, with surplus fed to the grid.

The system is expected to generate about 11 million kWh annually. With lighting upgrades, it will cut CO2 emissions by about 5,000 metric tons and standard coal use by about 4,000 tons per year, while saving about 3.5 million yuan ($524,972.93) in electricity costs annually.

During the project's final phase, the market was preparing to open, so ground passages had to stay clear for merchants' materials. The team used cranes and industrial drones to lift panels directly to the roof, raising efficiency by more than 20 percent and avoiding concentrated roof stacking and extra weight.

The rooftop now generates clean power without disrupting market operations. The project lowers energy costs and carbon emissions, supporting the green transformation of large agricultural and cold-chain logistics parks.