The role of coal-fired power has been reaffirmed!

China’s resource endowment, which is heavily reliant on coal, ensures that coal-fired power will continue to play a vital role in safeguarding the country’s energy and electricity security for a considerable period. These remarks were made by Yu Bing, Deputy Director of the National Energy Administration, at the national conference on promoting typical cases and technologies related to the integrated “three‑upgrades” initiative for coal‑fired power plants on the 24th. He noted that in 2021, despite accounting for less than 50% of total installed capacity, coal‑fired power generated 60% of the nation’s electricity and met 70% of peak‑load demand, thereby serving as a cornerstone and stabilizing force in ensuring a secure and reliable power supply.
Since the beginning of this year, Party and state leaders have, on various occasions, provided clear guidance on the role of coal and coal-fired power generation, as well as on how to achieve efficient and clean utilization of coal.
On April 21, Han Zheng, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, attended the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2022 in Bo’ao, Hainan. He stated that China will, based on its fundamental national conditions—namely, an energy structure dominated by coal—vigorously promote the clean utilization of coal, leverage both market mechanisms and government regulation, ensure the safe and stable supply of energy and electricity this year, and steadily and orderly advance carbon peaking and carbon neutrality.

On April 20, Premier Li Keqiang of the State Council presided over an executive meeting of the State Council, which adopted measures to ensure and increase energy supply, thereby enhancing energy’s capacity to support economic and social development. The meeting noted that, based on China’s national conditions and in response to external challenges, it is essential to focus on key priorities, strengthen energy security, and proactively advance the construction of energy projects that are both technically feasible and aligned with development needs. It is crucial to leverage coal’s role as a primary energy source, optimize approval policies for coal production and project development, enforce local responsibilities for stable production and supply, and fully unleash advanced production capacity. Through measures such as approving additional capacity and bringing new projects online, an extra 300 million tons of capacity will be added this year. Moreover, market‑based and law‑based approaches will be employed to keep coal prices within an appropriate range.

On March 22, Han Zheng, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, chaired a special symposium on the clean and efficient utilization of coal. Han Zheng stated that it is necessary to further align thinking and actions, balance development with security, and deeply recognize the paramount importance of safeguarding national energy security in the new context. He emphasized the need to advance the clean and efficient use of coal based on China’s specific national conditions, effectively leverage coal’s role as a reliable safety net, and ensure the secure supply of energy and electricity nationwide.

On the afternoon of March 5, while attending the deliberations of the Inner Mongolia delegation, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “China’s national conditions—rich in coal, poor in oil, and with limited natural gas—mean that our energy structure, which is dominated by coal, will be difficult to fundamentally change in the short term. To achieve the ‘dual carbon’ goals, we must proceed from China’s actual conditions, pursue progress while ensuring stability, and advance step by step. We must not act divorced from reality or seek quick results; we must avoid campaign-style decarbonization and abrupt policy shifts. We cannot discard the tools that put food on the table before securing new ones—such an approach would be untenable. We need both a green, clean environment and the assurance that our production and daily life can continue as normal.”

On March 2, Han Zheng, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Vice Premier of the State Council, and head of the Leading Group for Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality, chaired a plenary meeting of the group. Han Zheng stated that it is imperative to promptly deepen research on major issues related to the “dual carbon” goals and formulate actionable policies and measures. He emphasized the need to advance the orderly transition and substitution of coal, carefully balance supply and demand, rationally plan the scale and spatial distribution of coal-fired power projects, promote the clean and efficient use of coal, and ensure that coal continues to play its fundamental role as an energy source while providing a reliable safety net. Additionally, he called for studying and advancing the development of renewable energy, accelerating the planning and construction of a new‑energy supply-and‑consumption system, and supporting the growth of distributed renewable energy.

For the foreseeable future, coal will remain the dominant energy source, continuing to play a foundational and safety‑net role in safeguarding China’s energy security. Moreover, coal‑fired power will retain its essential position in the country’s power mix for some time to come. The clean and efficient utilization of coal‑fired power is of paramount importance.

At its executive meeting on April 20, the State Council proposed promoting the retrofitting of coal-fired power units to enhance energy efficiency, with a total retrofit capacity exceeding 220 million kilowatts for the year.

On March 22, Vice Premier Han Zheng stated at a special symposium on the clean and efficient utilization of coal that it is essential to recognize that advancing the clean and efficient use of coal is a crucial pathway toward achieving the carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals. He emphasized the need to coordinate and comprehensively address this major undertaking, promote the green and low-carbon transformation of the energy sector in a scientific and orderly manner, and provide robust energy security for high-quality development.

It is necessary to strengthen overall planning and coordination, focus on key areas, integrate resources from all sectors, and forge a concerted effort to promote the clean and efficient use of coal. We must remain guided by both objectives and problems, concentrate on priority industries and critical links, advance clean and efficient coal production and processing, carry out energy‑saving and carbon‑reduction upgrades in major coal‑consuming sectors such as power generation, and vigorously strengthen controls over loose coal.

On January 24, 2022, while presiding over the 36th collective study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Xi Jinping emphasized that, based on China’s endowment of energy resources, we must adhere to the principle of establishing new capacities before decommissioning old ones and adopt a holistic, coordinated approach. The gradual phase-out of traditional energy sources must be underpinned by the secure and reliable substitution of new energy. We should vigorously promote the integrated implementation of three major upgrades—energy conservation and carbon reduction, flexibility enhancement, and heat supply transformation—for coal-fired power plants.

In the future, coal-fired power will transition from a primary source of electricity generation to a supporting and flexible ancillary‑service resource. First, we will vigorously advance the transformation and upgrading of coal‑fired power: carrying out energy‑saving and consumption‑reducing retrofits, heating‑supply upgrades, and flexibility enhancements for coal‑fired units, thereby comprehensively improving their ability to provide flexible regulation and lowering coal consumption. Second, we will promote the peaking of carbon emissions in the coal‑fired power sector in a prudent and orderly manner. Balancing low‑carbon transformation with energy security, we will strictly limit the addition of new coal‑fired capacity, appropriately manage the growth of coal‑fired generation, and vigorously push forward the retrofitting and modernization of existing units as well as their standardized operation. At the same time, we will intensify efforts to deploy carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) in the coal‑fired power sector, explore the implementation of carbon‑emissions trading for this industry, and make strong strides toward achieving peak carbon emissions in coal‑fired power.

Regarding coal-fired power, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration have issued the “14th Five-Year Plan for a Modern Energy System,” which states that advanced coal-fired power plants should be developed in a rational and demand‑driven manner. According to an official from the National Energy Administration who commented on this landmark document, it is essential to maintain existing capacity, leverage the supporting role of coal and coal‑fired power in advancing green and low‑carbon energy development, and steadily release advanced coal‑production capacity. Furthermore, supportive and flexible advanced coal‑fired power facilities should be built as needed, while efforts will focus on boosting domestic oil and gas production levels.

Meanwhile, the “14th Five-Year Plan for a Modern Energy System” sets specific targets for flexibilizing coal-fired power generation and for implementing the “three‑in‑one transformation” initiative.

Strive to achieve, by 2025, a cumulative installed capacity of over 200 million kilowatts for flexibility upgrades of coal-fired power units.

Focus will be placed on retrofitting coal-fired units of 300,000 kW and below to enhance their flexibility, while in regions where peak‑shaving is particularly challenging, efforts will be made to promote the flexibility upgrades of 600,000 kW subcritical coal-fired units.

Phased-out outdated coal-fired power capacity: During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, 30 million kilowatts of such capacity will be retired, including units reaching the end of their service life.

Of course, the overarching policy of vigorously developing wind power, photovoltaics, and other renewable energy sources remains unchanged. The “14th Five-Year Plan for a Modern Energy System” states that by 2035, renewable energy generation will become the dominant source of electricity.