New heating service policy could reduce consumption

China's policy to charge heating service users based on the amount of energy they consume will see more meters installed, a company executive said.

Wang Zhaoli, general manager of Ista Measurement Technology Services (Beijing) Co Ltd, a subsidiary of the Germany-based metering company Ista, said the policy could reduce energy consumption by more than 50 percent in the heating sector.

Currently, users usually pay for central heating services based on the size of their houses, but the government is promoting a measured charging system so that users will pay according to the amount of energy they consume.

To measure consumption, meters must be installed.

Ista Measurement Technology Services has dozens of projects in Beijing and more in other cities including Tianjin, Shanghai and Qingdao.

Qiu Baoxing, vice-minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, said in November that the government will continue to promote the measured charging system.

In China, 116 cities have carried out policies and regulations to promote the system, accounting for 95 percent of cities with heating services in northern China.

"In northern China, around 3 billion square-meter build-up areas can be subject to measured charging system by installing meters and making construction adjustment. The energy saved by the change can supply heating to another 2 billion square-meter build-up areas," Wang said.