Cleaner coal to complement green wave

China is gearing up for a new phase of coal power upgrades to hasten its transition toward cleaner and greener energy, said officials and experts on Monday.

This round of upgrades will focus on enhanced peak-shaving capability, strong support for volatile new energy power, high resilience and lower emissions.

It proposes key tasks in four aspects — clean and low-carbon; safe and reliable, efficient peak-shaving; valley-filling and the intelligent operation of coal power, said He Yang, deputy head of the National Energy Administration.

He emphasized that among the four key tasks, ensuring the security and reliability of the power supply are fundamental prerequisites, as coal-fired power accounts for 40 percent of installed capacity and generates nearly 60 percent of electricity in China.

This initiative comes against the backdrop of the rapid increase in power generated from intermittent and volatile new energies.

Officials and experts emphasized the pressing need for China's coal-fired power sector to address significant challenges amid energy transition.

Coal-fired power, a major carbon emitter, must reduce emissions while enhancing flexibility as a crucial peak-shaving and support source in the evolving power system structure.

Moving forward, a focus on clean energy and intelligent operations is essential for coal-fired power to adapt to scheduling systems and complex operating environments, ensuring both security and sustainability, said He.

Hu Wenping, director of the power generation project consulting institute affiliated with the China Electric Power Planning and Engineering Institute, emphasized the need to enhance the efficiency and speed of coal-fired power generation units, as well as boost worker safety through technological innovation.

This includes intelligent optimization and decision-making for efficient operation, dynamic matching of resources for rapid load changes, and safety measures like intelligent safety monitoring to mitigate operational risks and ensure safe operations, Hu said.

Diao Baosheng, deputy director of the power department of CHN Energy, shared the group's practices in clean and decarbonization technologies for coal-fired power, including biomass co-firing and carbon capture, utilization and storage.

Diao said the company has successively carried out technological strategies such as chemical absorption capturing, which can absorb up to 500,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide.