The industry continues to be driven by clean coal technologies, which make it possible to minimise emissions when burning fuel. This refers to the so-called ultra-supercritical coal-fired TPPs, whose efficiency ranges from 44% to 46%, significantly exceeding the same figure for super- and subcritical power plants (33–37% and 37–40%, respectively). The difference is due to the operating conditions of steam boilers: at subcritical coal-fired TPPs, the pressure in steam boilers is under 221 bar (critical water pressure) and the temperature is below 550 degrees Celsius. In turn, the upper thresholds for pressure and temperature are 243 bar and 565 degrees Celsius for supercritical coal-fired TPPs, and 320 bar and 610 degrees Celsius for ultra-supercritical ones. According to Global Energy Monitor, the share of ultra-supercritical TPPs in the capacity of China’s existing coal-fired TPPs was 32% by early 2024, whereas this figure reached 93% for power plants under construction.

The leader in the capacity of newly-launched Chinese coal-fired TPPs in 2023 was Inner Mongolia, a northern region far removed from LNG regasification terminals and the major centres of NPP construction. In terms of the capacity of coal-fired TPPs which entered or resumed construction in 2023, the leader was Jiangsu, one of the most economically developed provinces in eastern China, where the construction of the largest number of new coal-fired TPPs was also approved in 2023. Meanwhile, projects announced in 2023 covered a number of regions both in the west (Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region) and in the east and south of the country (Shandong, Guangdong, Hunan).

Overall, coal remains the main source of electricity in China. According to Ember, coal-fired TPPs accounted for 60.7% of China’s power output in 2023, whereas the aggregate share of gas and oil products in the country’s energy mix was at 4%, and the share of low-carbon sources, including units powered by biomass, nuclear, wind, solar and hydroelectric power plants, totaled 35.3%.