Prospect of near-zero-emission IGCC power plants to decarbonize coal-fired power generation in China: implications from the GreenGen project

Abstract An integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant with pre-combustion CO2 capture provides a solution to achieve energy security with CO2 emission reduction in China, which has a coal-dominant energy resource structure. This study utilizes the electricity generation and cost information of the GreenGen IGCC plant (265MW), which is the first and, to date, the only IGCC facility in China, to evaluate the economic performance and competitiveness of this emerging clean coal technology. In the construction stage, the initial investment on the GreenGen plant was approximately $565 million (capital cost: 2133 $/kW; in constant 2017 US dollars). Compared with the US, China incurred significantly lower costs of initial investment for the construction of the IGCC plant, owing to the adoption of a self-developed gasifier. During the operation stage, the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) without CO2 capture for the GreenGen plant was calculated as 103 $/MWh, whereas it increased to 131 $/MWh with pre-combustion CO2 capture (CO2 capture cost: 42 $/tonne). Currently, an IGCC plant with integrated CO2 capture remains too expensive to be widely used in China. However, simulation results indicate that the LCOE of China’s IGCC plants could be potentially reduced to 80 $/MWh in the future owing to technology innovation, large-scale application and cumulative production. Government policy and financial support to stimulate the research and development of gas turbine and low-rank coal gasification technologies and to subsidize the operation of IGCC plants owing to their environmental benefits would play critical roles in accelerating the development of near-zero-emission IGCC power plants in China.