Guangzhou (JLC), May 22, 2026--China Huaneng Group, the operator of China's first geothermal heating project using supercritical CO₂ in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province, brought online the project on May 19, CCTV NEWS reported on the same day.
The project works by piping supercritical CO₂ 2,500 meters deep underground to the bottom of the geothermal wells, where it absorbs underground heat before returning to the surface to transfer the energy for heating, the report said.
Unlike traditional geothermal projects that use water as the heat-transfer medium, this project exploits supercritical CO₂ for its higher density and lower flow resistance, which help to improve the heat extraction efficiency by around 20% while cutting the per-unit heating energy consumption by 10%.
Once fully operational, the project will be able to cover the central heating demand for over 18,000 square meters of residential housing in winter, replacing approximately 288 metric tons of standard coal annually and reducing CO₂ emissions by about 750 metric tons per year, the report added.
In addition, the project ensures that throughout the entire process, no groundwater is extracted, no strata are contaminated, and no geological environment is disturbed, guaranteeing clean and safe heat extraction, according to the report.
