Energy Policy 51 (2012) 138–142

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Energy Policy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol

Dynamics of clean coal-fired power generation development in China

Yue Lin
School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Coal-fired power technology will play an important role over a long period in China. Clean coal-fired
Received 5 May 2011 power technology is essential for the global GHG emission reduction. Recently, advanced supercritical
Accepted 1 June 2011 (SC)/ultra-supercritical (USC) technology has made remarkable progress in China and greatly con-
Available online 8 July 2011
tributed to energy saving and emission reduction. This study analyzes the dynamics of SC/USC
Keywords: development in China from an integrated perspective. The result indicates that, besides the internal
SC/USC coal-fired power technology demand, the effective implementation of domestic public policy and technology transfer contributed
Domestic policy greatly to the development of SC/USC technology in China. In future low carbon scenario, SC/USC coal-
Technology transfer fired power technology might still be the most important power generation technology in China until
2040, and will have a significant application prospect in other developing countries. The analysis makes
a very useful introduction for other advanced energy technology development, including a renewable
energy technology, in China and other developing countries.
& 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction the dynamics of clean coal-fired power generation development

In 2009, China has owned the largest coal-fired power gen-
eration all over the world, with 599 GW installed coal-fired power
capacities and 2867 TWh generation (CEC, 2010a). Coal-fired
power plants consume approximate 1 billion tce and emit about
2.5 billion tons CO2 or 40% of total GHG emissions in China.
Globally, coal will remain the leading source of electricity gen-
eration in 2035 with its share of electricity generation around
32%. The coal-fired generation in non-OECD countries will
increase tremendously (IEA, 2010). Therefore, clean coal-fired
power technology is very important to GHG emission reduction
in China and other non-OECD countries.
China has made a significant success in the development of
clean coal-fired power generation and energy efficiency during
the 11th Five-Year Plan (FYP) period (2006–2010). China has
currently become a leading country in clean coal-fired power
technology: supercritical (SC) and ultra-super-critical (USC). The
average efficiency for coal-fired power generation in China is
335 gce/kWh in 2010 (CEC, 2011), which has reached the world
leading level. Understanding the underlying driving force, which
made such dramatic progress is not only crucial to the future GHG
emission reduction in China, but also to other developing coun-
tries, which heavily rely on coal-fired power generation. This
paper discusses this issue from integrated perspective to analyze
n
Tel.:þ 861062785469; mobile: þ8613911850895; fax: þ 861062786244.
E-mail address: yuelits@tsinghua.edu.cn
in China.
2. The key clean coal-fired power technology in current
China: the US/USC technology
2.1. China’s power industry
Entering the new century, China’s power industry has been
maintaining a high-speed development, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2,
to meet the continuous growing power demand and to support
the rapid economic growth. Thermal power generation, of which
more than 95% is coal-fired power, accounts for approximately
75% of the total installed capacity and 80% of the total power
generation.
2.2. Great development of SC/USC in China
China chose SC/USC power technology as the key clean coal-
fired power technology at the end of 1990s. With international
assistance, China started the research projects on SC/USC power
technology. In 2004, the Qinbei Power Plant with domestic
600 MW SC power units came into operation. At the end of
2006, the domestic 1000 MW USC power unit started to run in
Yuhuan Power Plant, which symbolized the successful localiza-
tion of SC/USC power technology in China. Fig. 3 illuminates the
localization process of clean coal power generation in China.
The cost of SC/USC coal-fired power technology has been
significantly reduced due to localization. At present, the construction

0301-4215/$ - see front matter & 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2011.06.012
 L. Yue / Energy Policy 51 (2012) 138–142 139

costs of localized coal-fired power plants with the desulfurization
equipment are 650–800 $/kW for a 300 MW sub-critical unit; 550–
700 $/kW for a 600 MW SC unit; 550–700 $/kW for a 1000 MW USC
unit. The construction costs of SC/USC units are cheaper than the
sub-critical units, and even much cheaper than the unit construction
cost of 1300–1700 $/kW in OECD countries. But the situation was
totally different before technology localization as shown in Table 1
(HUP, 1995).
From Table 2, we know that the SC/USC power units have been
through large-scale deployment during the 11th FYP (2005–2010).
The units with single capacity of 300 MW and larger have accounted
for 69.4% of the total thermal power generation in 2009. This
number in 2005 was only 45.5%. By the end of 2010, there were
33 GW-level USC units operating in China, while 11 more were
under construction (CEC, 2011).
The technological level of the Chinese power manufacturing is
greatly enhanced thorough the development of SC/USC technol-
ogy. Currently, the three major Chinese electric groups have
already owned the capacity to manufacture the whole sets of
600 and 1000 MW SC/USC coal-fired power equipments.
2.3. The evaluation of energy saving contributed by SC/USC power
technology deployment

The power generation efficiency of the sub-critical plant is

about 38%. The efficiency of the current USC units can reach 45%.
For example, coal consumption for power supply of USC units in
Yuhuan Power Plant is 286 gce/kWh (Zhu and Zhao, 2008), which
is excessively lower than the national standards and reach the
internationally advanced level. The dramatic development of SC/
USC technology has contributed significantly to energy saving and
GHG emission reduction in China. Meanwhile, China has shut
down more than 70 GW small thermal power units between 2005
and 2010. Because of the rapid development of SC/USC technol-
ogy, the proportion of 300 MW and over 300 MW units has
increased, and coal consumption for power supply declined
dramatically as shown in Fig. 4. This could save 110 Mtce and
reduce approximately 280 MtCO2 per year (NDRC, 2010).

Table 1
Fig. 1. Installed power capacities in China 2001–2010 (GW). Construction costs of SC/USC coal-fired power plants in 1995 and 2009.
Source: HUP, 1995.

Capacity (MW) 600 1000

Cost ($/kW)
1995 1100 980
2009 550–700 550–700

Table 2
SC/USC units in CEC electric power reliability statistics.
Source: CEC, 2010b.

Year Units Total capacity (MW)

2005 14 7280
2006 21 11,480
2007 53 31,880
2008 83 51,880
2009 132 80,980
Fig. 2. Power generation in China 2001–2010 (TWh).

Sub Critical Sup Critical Ultra-Sup Sup Ultra-Sup

Import Domestic Import Domestic

1980 1989 1992 2000 2003 2004 2006

300MW 300MW 600MW 600MW 1000MW 600MW 1000MW

600MW 600MW

U.S. Westinghouse Corp. Japan Toshiba Boiler/

U.S. CE Corp. Mitsubishi Turbine
Japan, Mitsubishi/
Switzerland ABB
Toshiba/Hitach;
German, Siemens

Fig. 3. Roadmap of clean coal power generation localization in China.

140 L. Yue / Energy Policy 51 (2012) 138–142
Fig. 4. Thermal power structure and coal consumption for power supply.
Fig. 5. Reduction of coal consumption for power supply in 2007 and 2008.
The indicator of coal consumption for power supply can be
calculated by weighted average the coal consumption for the
different capacity levels by the proportion of its power supplied in
the total, which is
X
n
R¼ a i ri
i¼1
R is the coal consumption for power supply, ri is coal consumption
for power supply of capacity level i and ai is proportion of power
supply of capacity level i in total.
Therefore, the reduction of coal consumption for power supply
can be achieved in two ways: energy efficiency improvement of
current units and structure optimization. Based on the survey and
data mining for five major power generation groups, we finished
detailed analyses. The result shows that although the power
generation groups enhanced their management on energy saving
and put large investment into technical improvement for current
units, many factors, including the reduced operation hours and
added gas desulfurization system, made the reduction of coal
consumption for power supply contributed by energy efficiency
improvement of current units smaller than 1.5 gce/kWh. The total
reduction was 10 gce/kWh in 2007 and 7 gce/kWh in 2008. So
replacing the small power generation units by the SC/USC can
contribute as much as 6–8.5 gce/kWh reduction as shown in
Fig. 5. SC/USC has become the most important clean coal-fired
power technology in China.
3. The assessment of dynamics of SC/USC power technology
development
3.1. Main motivations for strategic technology choosing
3.1.1. Rapid growth of electricity demand
China is the largest developing country in the world, main-
taining rapid economic growth for several decades. Even during
the financial crisis, the growth rate of GDP reached 8.7% in 2009
and 10.3% in 2010 (NBS, 2011). Along with the rapid growth of
GDP, the demand of electricity rose sharply. In 2000, power
consumption in China was 1347 TWh, then increased up to
2494 TWh in 2005 (NBS and NDRC, 2008), and 3660 TWh in
2009 (CEC, 2010a), with the average annual growth rate of 11.7%.
Around 2002 and 2003, the power shortage in lots of areas in
China had constrained economic growth. Since then, China has
attached great importance to the construction of power plants.
SC/USC power plants with benefit of lower cost, shorter construc-
tion period, higher reliability and energy efficiency are the best
solution to match the strong electricity demand.
3.1.2. Energy security and coal price
Fast growth of economy and energy consumption brings coal
shortage and the rise of coal price (Zhu, 2009). Since 2003, during
peak load, coal supply has always been a tension and results in
power shortage, which triggered energy security issue. Coal price
are rising. The trading price of high quality power coal in Datong,
Shanxi Province was 430 RMB/ton in 2005, and doubled to
825 RMB/ton in 2009 (SERC, 2010). The cost of energy supple-
ment increased significantly. The power industry relied on coal-
fired power technology is at loss in long-term. The internal
motivation stimulates the development of SC/USC to address coal
supply shortage and reduce the cost of power generation.
3.1.3. Sustainable development and emission reduction
Increasing coal consumption in China brings on a series of
environmental, health and social problems. In addition, increased
pollution and carbon dioxide emissions directly affect China’s
sustainable development. Therefore, the clean coal-fired power
technology is essential for energy conservation and emission
reduction in China.
3.2. Domestic policy promotion
3.2.1. Energy conservation law
China’s Energy Conservation Law was passed on November
1st, 1997, and amended on October 28th, 2007 by the National
People’s Congress. The law stipulates that, ‘‘conservation of
resources is a fundamental state policy. The state implements
an energy development strategy under which energy is conserved
and exploited simultaneously while the first place is given to
conservation.’’ Moreover, ‘‘the state applies a system of responsi-
bility for achieving goals set for energy conservation and a system
for assessing energy conservation, and shall include the assess-
ment of local people’s governments and the leading personnel’s
achievements in energy conservation’’. It also takes the power
industry as a key industry for energy conservation, and will push
forward technical innovation for energy conservation in the
private sector.
3.2.2. The guideline of ‘‘building big ones and shutting down small
ones’’
In 2007, the Chinese government released the policy for
accelerating the shutdown of small-sized thermal power units,
named as the Guideline for Building Large Ones and Shutting
 L. Yue / Energy Policy 51 (2012) 138–142 141

down Small Ones. The mandatory shutdown target for the 11th
FYP is 50 GW. In principle, the capacity of new pure condensing
coal-fired power generation unit should be larger than 300 MW.
New projects in major grid are all at least 600 MW SC/USC units.
3.2.3. Introductory tariff policy
National Development and Reform Commission promulgated
the ‘‘Reducing the tariff of Small Thermal Power Units to accel-
erate shutting down small thermal power units.’’ The government
promotes the power price and wholesale reform to match the
price to be the unique one in the same grid areas. The tariff of all
small coal-fired power units would be reduced to not higher than
benchmark tariff in the same region, and no other subsidies. For
the small coal-fired power units, which tariff is lower than the
benchmark tariff, the existing tariff would be enforced.
3.2.4. Target-responsibility pledges of energy saving
Local governments, five major power generation groups and
two grid companies have signed target-responsibility pledges of
energy saving with the central government, which clarified their
responsibility, implementation measures and verifying methods
of shutting down small thermal power generation units during
the 10th FYP. If local governments and companies refuse to shut
down small ones, their new power projects will be suspended by
the central government. Grid companies are not allowed to
provide grid access for the illegal power generation units. Govern-
ment also establishes appropriate monitoring and evaluation
system, which release clear signals to ensure the policies will be
implemented.
venture. Initially, the domestic equipments of SC/USC coal-fired
power unit were all produced by local companies with the
collaboration with foreign companies.
3.3.2. Technology sources and cooperation mechanisms
Three major electric manufacturers have been formed cur-
rently in China: Shanghai Electric Group, Harbin Electric Corpora-
tion and Dongfang Electric Corporation. These companies provide
nearly all the SC/USC power equipments in China. However, they
need technological support from foreign companies at present to
complete the equipment production. See Table 3 for the technol-
ogy sources and cooperation mechanisms.
3.4. The integrated stakeholder analysis
The rapid development of SC/USC coal-fired power technology
in China is the result of comprehensive function of market
demand, government policy intervention and technology transfer.
As shown in Fig. 6, this paper explains the approach through
integrated stakeholder analysis based on substantial survey. An
important lesson learned from this study is that technology
transfer plays an important role in the global development of
environmentally sound technology. Foreign companies earn a
high return from SC/USC technology transfer to China. Chinese
enterprises improve their technology. Meanwhile, energy con-
servation and GHG emission reduction are achieved. This win–
win result is a significant demonstration for the global GHG
reduction.

4. The future of SC/USC coal power technology

3.2.5. Technology research and demonstration
The Chinese government has made great efforts to support SC/USC
4.1. GMGGE model and low carbon scenario
power technology. In 2000, the project of Development Complete Sets
of 600 MW SC Coal-Fired Power Unit Equipment was listed in the
Based on the MESSAGE (Messner and Strubegger, 1995) model,
national key technology R&D programme of 10th FYP. Also, Qinbei
Power Plant (2  600 MW) was confirmed as the demonstration Tsinghua University cooperated with IIASA developed Global
project of the localization process of 600 MW SC technology. In
2002, the research on USC Coal-Fired Power Generation Technology
Policy Chinese
was listed into national high-tech R&D programme (863 Programme) Chinese
Government Manufacturer
of 10th FPY. The demonstration project of localization technology is Interventions
Yuhuan power plant. These researches have made breakthroughs,
which are of vital importance to the dramatic development of this Policy Monetary
technology in China (Zhu and Zhao, 2008). Interventions return
Technology
support
3.3. International support: technology transfer Influence

3.3.1. Technology transfer Market Foreign

Driving force
Technology transfer helps China develop SC/USC coal-fired Demand Manufacturer
power technology quickly. Importing, absorbing and improving
technologies originated from foreign companies are the three Community of interest
steps to develop advanced technology by Chinese manufacturing.
The main technology transfer mechanisms are licensing and joint Fig. 6. Integrated stakeholder analysis of SC/USC in China.

Table 3
Technology sources and cooperation mechanisms of SC/USC coal-fired power technology of three Chinese major electric groups.
Source: ZHAI (2008).

Group Boiler Turbine Generator

Source Mechanisms Source Mechanisms Source Mechanisms

Shanghai Electric Alstom License Siemens Joint venture Siemens Joint venture
Harbin Electric SC: Mitsui Babcock License 600 MW Mitsubishi License Toshiba License
USC: Mitsubishi 1000 MW Toshiba
Dongfang Electric BHK Joint venture Hitachi License Hitachi License
142 L. Yue / Energy Policy 51 (2012) 138–142
Fig. 7. Power generation of China in low carbon scenario from 2000 to 2040.
Model for Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Tsinghua-GMGGE). Tsin-
ghua-GMGGE model divided the world into 10 regions and
become the first bottom-up global model in China with 6 different
types of greenhouse gases, 48 different energy forms, around 160
constraints, and more than 1750 technology definitions. Further-
more, this study builds up a scenario, which originated from
IIASA’s B2 scenario (IPCC, 2000; Keywan et al., 2007), to analyze
the development of SC/USC in the future. The scenario describes a
world in which the emphasis is on local solutions to economic,
social, and environmental sustainability. In this scenario, China
has moderate population growth, intermediate levels of economic
development. And low carbon energy technology grows fast. The
scenario is also oriented toward environmental protection, but
without mandatory climate policy and GHG reduction target.
GHG emissions in China will reach its peak before 2040 in the
scenario, at the level of less than 11.5 billion ton CO2 equivalent,
and then decline slowly. Compared with the results of related
research (ERI, 2009), this scenario is a low carbon scenario
for China.
4.2. SC/USC technology in low carbon scenario
According to the outputs of modeling in Fig. 7, SC/USC coal-
fired power technology may be the most important power
generation technology in China before 2040 even in the low
carbon scenario. The low cost and emission, high reliability and
efficiency make SC/USC competitive in the future.
As we know, coal-fired power technology may still be the key
power technology for decades. Thus the development of clean
coal-fired power technology like SC/USC in other developing
countries will have great impact in global GHG emission reduc-
tion. Meanwhile the success of SC/USC in China makes a very
useful introduction for other advanced energy technology devel-
opment, including renewable energy technology.
5. Conclusion
In the past ten years, China has become a leading player of clean
coal-fired power generation technology. Large-scale application of
SC/USC coal-fired power technology played a key role in energy
conservation. The strong electricity demand brought by rapid
economic development, domestic policy promotion, and effective
integration of technology transfer and self-development directly
push the quickly development of clean coal-fired power generation
technology in China.
The success of SC/USC in China shows that, with international
technology transfer and domestic policy promotion, it is possible
for developing countries to advance low carbon technology in a
timely mode. To reduce GHG emissions in future, developed
countries should enhance the support to developing countries in
technology transfer to promote the development of low carbon
technology. Developing countries should develop and apply
appropriate polices to encourage localization of low carbon
technology. GHG emission reduction could be the output of a
win-win solution.
Acknowledgements
The project was supported by the China National Social
Science Foundation (09&ZD029). The author wishes to express
thanks to colleagues in Tsinghua University and IIASA, and to
Dr. OU Xunmin, Dr. XU Ming and Dr. GAO Lin for their great help.
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