Coal remains at the heart of China’s flourishing economy. In 2019, 58 percent of the country’s total energy consumption came from coal, which helps explain why China accounts for 28 percent of all global CO2 emissions. And China continues to build coal-fired power plants at a rate that outpaces the rest of the world combined. In 2020, China brought 38.4 gigawatts of new coal-fired power into operation, more than three times what was brought on line everywhere else.
Coal remains at the heart of China’s flourishing economy. In 2019, 58 percent of the country’s total energy consumption came from coal, which helps explain why China accounts for 28 percent of all global CO2 emissions. And China continues to build coal-fired power plants at a rate that outpaces the rest of the world combined. In 2020, China brought 38.4 gigawatts of new coal-fired power into operation, more than three times what was brought on line everywhere else.
https://e360.yale.edu/features/despite- ... coal-spree
Yet coal still accounts for about two-thirds of China’s energy provision, and more than 200 new coal plants have been given the go-ahead. Globally, too, coal demand and production are forecast to grow until at least 2040.
Now, a Chinese engineer has re-engineered a Shanghai coal plant to make it one of the world’s most efficient – and a potential model for the country’s coal-burning future.
The plant burns 276 grams of coal per kilowatt-hour, compared with China’s national average of 315 grams per kilowatt-hour, according to Mao.
Feng’s latest project is designing a coal plant that he says will set a national benchmark for fuel efficiency in the sector. Its signature feature, Minchener says, will be a system that more efficiently transfers steam between the boiler and turbine and reduces the need for expensive steel piping.
Mao says the new plant, in the eastern province of Anhui, will burn 251 grams per kilowatt-hour. If all China’s coal-fired plants were that efficient, the country would reduce its annual carbon dioxide emissions by some 7 per cent, he says.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/21 ... -at-a-time
https://www.newscientist.com/article/21 ... at-a-time/
So, the Japanese government decided to build 22 new coal-fired power stations, to run on cheap coal imported from Australia. Economically it made sense. Environmentally, not so much. Japan is now under intense pressure to stop using coal.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-59525480
The BBC is still spitting its dummy out over Japan’s intention to carry on building 22 new coal power stations in the next five years, with combined carbon dioxide emissions of 74 million tonnes, about a quarter of Britain’s total emissions.
Of course, the BBC’s preferred solution is renewables:
“Japanese companies need cheap electricity to be competitive and they need clean electricity to be internationally acceptable. That means they need renewable electricity. Delaying this development will harm the Japanese economy.”
However, there might be one slight snag with that!
It might not have occurred to the BBC, but Japan cannot simply import electricity when wind and solar are not working flat out. It has no interconnectors, and I doubt very much whether it would want to be totally reliant on Russia or China for its power.
With the shutdown of nuclear power, Japan has little alternative to using fossil fuels, regardless of what the BBC and Saiki-San might think.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/12/09/ ... er-plants/
Pingshan Phase II, described as a “national demonstration project”, combining the Feng double reheat arrangement along with other improvements (comprising the Feng ‘5E’ suite of technologies) is expected to be the world’s most efficient coal fired plant when it enters service in 2020. At 1350 MWe, it will also be the largest in terms of unit size. In addition, it will be the first deployment of GE’s SteamH boiler design, with key components such as mills, burners, water wall components, superheaters and reheaters, being manufactured in partnership Shanghai Electric at GE’s (formerly Alstom’s) state of art Wuhan boiler factory in China. The Pingshan II design steam conditions are 32.5 MPa/610/630/623°C, main steam flow 3416 t/h, turbine heat rate 6897 kJ/kWh, and it is estimated to be capable of an efficiency of 49.6%, surpassing what would be anticipated for a single reheat design with 700°C steam conditions.
But, not content with that, the Feng team are now working on an even more efficient plant with a fully elevated steam turbine generator, with one shaft. “Pingshan II is good, but not perfect”, said Li.
A capacity of 1350 MWe is “somehow too large for a single unit”, he suggested, “making it difficult to promote more projects.” Also, there is still lengthy hot second reheat pipework, with its associated pressure and heat losses. This could be problematic for any future 700°C project, requiring a significant quantity of expensive alloys.
Furthermore, the two-shaft configuration is more complicated to control and operate than a single shaft, and the smaller rotational inertia of the elevated, smaller, turbine creates challenges for overspeed protection, according to Li. He said there was “no problem” with the feasibility of the “all-casings-elevated” concept. Condensers remain at the conventional level, connected to the elevated LP stages via ducts similar to those that are well established for air cooled units, with negligible pressure loss (10 Pa). Unit capacity is 660 MWe (a good size for China and elsewhere) and this can be achieved with five casings (1HP + 1IP1 + 1IP2 + 2LP), which can be accommodated on a single (elevated) shaft. Hot second reheat piping is “almost eliminated”, reducing cost and heat/pressure loss and paving the way for potential future development of a more economic 700°C plant.
Design work is currently underway on the first planned plant to use the “all-casings-elevated” configuration, combined with the latest versions of the Feng 4E technologies. This is China Resources’ 2 x 660 MW Fuyang Phase II, with construction scheduled to start next year.
Indications are that the turbine efficiency of Fuyang II will be even higher than that of Pingshan II, while house load will be lower, suggesting that Fuyang II plant net efficiency will surpass that of Pingshan II, to “become the new world benchmark”, concluded L
i.
https://www.sustainable-carbon.org/chin ... enchmarks/
New Japanese nuclear power plant project given go ahead by local authorities
Yamaguchi prefecture in Japan has renewed a landfill license for construction of a new nuclear power plant. The license was halted after the Fukushima disaster. The renewal comes amid heated debate on whether Japan needs new reactors at all.
https://www.rt.com/news/354580-japan-new-nuclear-plant/
Five Asian countries account for 80% of new coal power investment
Five Asian countries are jeopardising global climate ambitions by investing in 80% of the world’s planned new coal plants, according to a report.
Carbon Tracker, a financial thinktank, has found that China, India, Indonesia, Japan and Vietnam plan to build more than 600 coal power units, even though renewable energy is cheaper than most new coal plants.
The investments in one of the most environmentally damaging sources of energy could generate a total of 300 gigawatts of energy – enough to power the UK more than three times over – despite calls from climate experts at the UN for all new coal plants to be cancelled.
Catharina Hillenbrand von der Neyen, the author of the report, said: “These last bastions of coal power are swimming against the tide, when renewables offer a cheaper solution that supports global climate targets. Investor[s should steer clear of new coal projects, many of which are likely to generate negative returns from the outset.”
“In 2020, China built over three times as much new coal power capacity as all other countries in the world combined – the equivalent of more than one large coal plant per week,” according to a joint study by the U.S.-based think tank Global Energy Monitor and the Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air published on February 3.
“In addition, over 73 gigawatts (GW) of new coal power projects were initiated in China, five times as much as in all other countries, while construction permits for new coal projects also accelerated,” the study’s authors wrote
https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... investment
While the West dreams of a greener tomorrow which is technically a dirtier and bloodier tomorrow because the serious damage the mining operations cause to the environment and to the poor SOBS that are forced to work in them is devastating.
Asia continues to build more power plants. The focus is on More efficient power plants, especially in China and Japan. The truth is that the big players in Asia understand that Green power in its current state is a pipe dream. So while the West is weaning itself of Coal, Natural gas and Nuclear, that is set to change. These countries are busy building reliable sources of power. The next phase is for Asia to wholeheartedly embrace the latest developments in Nuclear technology. Given the current trajectory, there is no way the West will be able to hold back Asia at least from an economic standpoint.
