The 1st High efficiency low emissions coal-fired plant workshop took place on 23-25 May 2016 in Tokyo, Japan.
Please visit the workshop website for more details. Presentations are available to delegates.

Building on the success of the IEA CCC’s previous workshops on advanced ultra-supercritical (A-USC) power plant and efficiency upgrading, HELE2016  integrated these themes as a single event on high efficiency coal power plant of the future.

A transition to higher efficiency power generation is essential if coal is to remain a viable energy source in a low carbon future. While state-of-the-art ultrasupercritical coal plants routinely achieve efficiencies of 45%, ongoing research into high-temperature materials may enable advanced-USC plant with 50% efficiency to be realised by the end of the decade. At the same time, developments in alternative power cycles such as IGCC, fuel cells, or supercritical CO2 cycles have the potential for pushing this efficiency barrier still further.

Despite these advances, less than half of the plants commissioned last year employed supercritical steam cycles, and non-HELE plants represent the majority of the world’s coal fleet. Strategies for optimising the efficiency of existing plants include improving heat integration, upgrades to steam turbines and boilers, and installation of advanced control and monitoring systems.

With coal remaining the world’s largest source of power, increasing the uptake of these HELE technologies will make a significant impact on global carbon emissions, as well as paving the way for carbon capture and storage.

HELE2016 took place at TEPIA – a centre for technological innovation in the Aoyama district of Tokyo. The workshop concluded with a visit to the renowned Isogo Power Plant on Tokyo Bay, featuring two high-efficiency 600 MW USC units fitted with the pioneering ReACT multipollutant control system. 

For more information contact [email protected].