The National Speed Skating Oval, one of the flagship venues for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, will become the first venue for the upcoming games built using private capital, according to the Beijing municipal government.
On Jan. 31, the Beijing National Speed Skating Oval Management Co. Ltd. was established under a shareholder agreement between the Beijing State-Owned Assets Management Co. Ltd., the Beijing Capital Development Holding (Group) Co. Ltd., the Beijing Urban Construction Group Co. Ltd, the Beijing Uni-Construction Group and the China National Sports Group.
The company's founding marks the realization of the city's goal in raising private capital for the winter sports facilities. The new company will construct and operate the National Speed Skating Oval, dubbed "Ice Ribbon," under the build-operate-transfer model.
According to the 30-year framework agreement, the company will be responsible for the construction lasting three years (2017-19), using the venue for the Winter Olympic Games for two years (2020-22) and continue to operate it for another 25 years.
The National Speed Skating Oval will cover a total construction area of about 80,000 square meters, excluding the underground parking lot. The venue will become the largest speed skating stadium in Asia, capable of accommodating 12,000 people.
The ice surface in the skating hall covers about 12,000 square meters, including a 400-meter track used for long-track speed skating during the Olympics as well as other international events like skating, curling and ice hockey. The venue will also serve as a multi-functional ice sports center for the public after the Olympics, which can hold up to 2,000 people at once. The hall will be open all year round, the first of its kind in Beijing.
The skating hall will adopt innovative energy-conservation techniques. For example, it will use the heat generated from ice-making to boil water for the daily use, melt ice in the ice-melting cistern and maintain ice surface. These techniques will help to save about 1.8 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year.
The hall will also feature displays and smart-interfaces throughout the venue to provide athletes and guests with information in real time, such as the athletes' performance tracking, as well as seating guidance and food and beverage delivery for guests.
The Winter Olympic village and race courses for alpine skiing and snowmobile games in Beijing's Yanqing District will also adopt similar public-private partnership model to raise private capital for the venues' construction and operation.