Power up with the
US-China Energy
Cooperation Program
ECP, one of AmCham-China’s public-private partnerships,
is an innovative cooperative program between the private sector
and government
By ECP
T
he US-China Energy Cooperation
Program (ECP) is a commercial sectorinitiated public-private partnership under
AmCham-China's umbrella that offers a
unique platform to generate clean energy
business.
ECP is the only private sector-initiated, -managed
and-financed non-governmental organization focused
on US-China business development in the clean
energy sector. Its mission is to leverage private sector
resources to support the sustainable development of
the energy sectors in the US and China through the
development, deployment and commercialization
of the clean energy sector in both countries. Since its
founding in September 2009, ECP has grown from
24 to 47 member companies who come together in
nine sector-based working groups through a unique
bilateral government recognized platform to pursue
sector-based business development objectives that are
linked into both US and Chinese national clean energy
priorities.
Establishing the
Public-Private Platform
ECP’s unique public-private platform flows from the
formal bilateral government recognition it gained
soon after its founding from five US and Chinese
government ministry-level agencies and the Presidents of both countries. In October and November of
2009 (during US President Barack Obama’s state visit
to China), the US Departments of Commerce and
Energy (DOE) and the US Trade and Development
Agency (USTDA), together with the Chinese National
Energy Administration (NEA) and the Ministry of
Commerce (MOFCOM), signed bilateral Memoranda
of Understanding (MOU) supporting ECP. The MOUs
were recognized by the two Presidents in a joint
statement, which cited ECP’s contribution to the two governments’ future collaboration in clean energy. ECP’s efforts
were again endorsed during Chinese
President Hu Jintao’s January 2011 state
visit to the United States, in which the
two Presidents highlighted the progress
of ECP as part of the continued bilateral
cooperation in advancing clean energy
development.
Using the Platform
LP Amina, a founding member and co-chair of ECP’s Clean
Coal Working Group, established a joint venture to pilot its
patented poly-generation technology
2 2
|
c h i n a
b r i e f
|
o c t o b e r
2 0 1 1
ECP and its member companies and
partners realize sustainable business
by linking together clean energy sector
development and planning with commercial project formulation, piloting and
implementation. The working groups
drive this process in their targeted
sub-sectors, involving the member
companies within each working group and at critical
points obtaining Chinese and US government stakeholder input and feedback. The working groups have
the following goals:
• Define and detail their sector development road
map over the short-, medium- and long-term
under the framework of existing US-Chinese
bilateral government agreements on energy, the
environment and climate change.
• Agree on specific business development priorities
and objectives for the working groups within this
roadmap, given these objectives.
• Formulate a detailed work plan for the year,
circulate to Chinese and US government stakeholders, then incorporate their feedback,
ensuring that the initiatives are in line with
national development priorities, plans and
bilateral activities.
In March 2011, the working groups presented their
sector roadmaps, 2011 work plan objectives and implementation strategies at an unprecedented special
day-long, off-site high-level working meeting with
Energy Cooperation Program member list
Working Groups
Co-Chair(s)
Members
Clean Coal
LP Amina;
Peabody Energy
AES; Albemarle; Baker Botts L.L.P.; Calera; Caterpillar; Celanese
(China); Corning; Duke Energy; EPIC Clean Technologies; GE;
LanzaTech; MaxEn Capital; TRAX International; UTC
Clean Transportation
Boeing (China);
Corning;
Cummins
Caterpillar; Celanese (China); DuPont; Eaton; Honeywell;
LanzaTech; Tenneco; UTC
Decentralized Energy
and Combined
Cooling Heat Power
Caterpillar; GE
Capstone Turbine; Honeywell; UTC; Vanderweil
Energy Efficient
Building and Design
United Solar;
UTC
AECOM (Asia); Applied Materials; Autodesk; Calera; Dow
Chemical; DuPont; First Solar; GE; Honeywell; ICF International;
Intel; Microsoft; Oshkosh/JLG; Owens Corning; Solatube; Solutia
Energy Financing and
Investment
AECOM (Asia)
AES; Baker Botts L.L.P.; Chartis Insurance; Dow Chemical; First
Solar; GE; LP Amina; MaxEn Capital; Peabody Energy; Tang
Energy; United Solar Ovonic; UPC Renewables; UTC
Industrial Energy
Efficiency
Dow Chemical
Caterpillar; Celanese (China); GE; Honeywell; ICF
International; Intel; Rockwell Automation; Timken; UTC
Smart Grid
Honeywell; IBM;
Intel
AECOM (Asia); Boeing (China); CISCO Systems (China);
Corning; Dow Chemical; Eaton; FuxingXiaocheng; GE;
Rockwell Automation; UL (China); UPC Renewables
Solar Power
First Solar, Solar
ETC
Applied Materials; Corning; Dow Chemical; DuPont; Eaton;
Honeywell; Solatube; Solutia; UL (China); United Solar
Ovonic; UPC Renewables
Wind Power
Oshkosh/JLG;
UPC Renewables
AES; Baker Botts L.L.P.; Dow Chemical; GE; Rockwell
Automation; Tang Energy; Timken; UL (China); UTC
o c t o b e r
2 0 1 1
|
c h i n a
b r i e f
|
2 3
including five coal-fired power plants
in the city of Guangzhou. Furthermore, the company was awarded a
bid to install pollution controls for
Beijing’s Cao Qiao power plant. Once
commissioned in April 2012, the 700
megawatt facility will have one of the
lowest nitrogen oxide emission rates
in the world.
Another founding member, California-based Solatube, has become
a leading force in creating a new niche green market
through ECP. The company produces patented daylighting devices that use advanced optics to bring
natural lighting into interior building spaces.
When Solatube first arrived in China in 2009, the
daylighting industry was nonexistent. To develop
the market, the firm sought to establish the design
standards of its industry, which would then spur
demand for its products. However, it faced the
challenge of obtaining the necessary government
recognition because its technology was untested in
China.
In 2010, Solatube became a founding member of
ECP and joined in ECP’s Energy Efficient Building
and Design Working Group. Through the working
group, Solatube participated in a US government-funded mayors training mission to the US
in September 2010 that sent 19 mayors to the West
Coast, where they visited Solatube customer sites
and saw demonstrations of its unique daylighting
technologies. Following the trip, Solatube landed
its first government project in Xinxiang City, Henan
province for the design and installation of daylighting units in two buildings in the Pingyuan Development Zone. Solatube also participated in a working
group-organized USTDA-funded trade mission to
the US in November 2010 that took members of the
China Green Building Council (CGBC), Ministry
of Housing and Urban Development and Tsinghua
University Architecture Design and Research
Institute to the East Coast to observe the technologies and products of fellow working groupmembers first-hand. The mission resulted in Solatube
capturing a 20,000-square meter project in Shanxi
commissioned by Tsinghua University. In addition,
Solatube is currently collaborating with the CGBC in
the drafting and revision of three separate building
lighting standards that now include daylighting
systems.
When asked about ECP’s value, Solatube General
Manager Catherine Zhou puts it best: “ECP gives
small and medium enterprises, especially those
leading a new industry, the leverage needed to work
with the government, reach out to the Chinese market
and get results.”
ECP’s unique, bilaterally-recognized,
sector-based planning process has
empowered member companies to further
opportunities in developing, deploying and
commercializing sustainable clean energy
business in the US and China.
officials from NEA, MOFCOM and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). Chaired
by NEA Vice Administrator Qian Zhimin, the meeting
was attended by global, Asian and Chinese senior executives of ECP member companies. It also included
an appreciation luncheon for outgoing NDRC Vice Administrator and NEA Administrator Zhang Guobao,
a strong supporter of ECP and one of the signatories
to the bilateral MOUs recognizing ECP in 2009. The
groundbreaking event marked the beginning of an
annual dialogue between ECP and its Chinese government partners.
Delivering Results
ECP’s unique, bilaterally-recognized, sectorbased planning process has empowered member
companies to further opportunities in developing, deploying and commercializing sustainable
clean energy business in the US and China. For LP
Amina, a North Carolina-based firm that develops
advanced technology emission reduction solutions
for coal-fired power plants, ECP has provided
the platform for the firm to gain critical recognition from key stakeholders, including those within
government.“Without ECP, it would have been very
difficult for us to stay on the path outlined by policymakers,” said Will Latta, LP Amina’s China-based
managing director.
As founding member and co-chair of ECP’s Clean
Coal Working Group, LP Amina led the development
of the clean coal industry roadmap that outlined sector-focused carbon abatement strategies throughout
the industry value chain. Using the ECP platform,
the working group then shared the roadmap with the
NEA and DOE as well as key executives from Chinese
power sector commercial entities to identify common
areas of interest.
The bilateral engagement enabled LP Amina to
establish a joint venture to pilot its patented polygeneration technology in Shanxi province. The technology can curtail greenhouse gas emissions at
coal-powered plants by as much as 25 percent while
simultaneously generating cost-competitive chemical
feedstock. Once fully operational, the Shanxi-based
project will annually generate half a million tons of
chemical feedstock, valued at over US $250 million.
Another outgrowth of these efforts is LP Amina’s
acquisition of a number of de-nitrification projects,
2 4
|
c h i n a
b r i e f
|
o c t o b e r
2 0 1 1
For more information and to get involved with
ECP, please email ecp@amchamchina.org or visit
www.uschinaecp.org