Present status of advanced coal-fired power plants

According to IEA data the total installed coal fired capacity for generation of electricity is about 950 GWe. The units generate annually 5 PWh of electricity, consuming over 2 Gt of coal. The amount of coal used for electricity generation is expected to grow at a compound average rate of 2% per annum in the late 90s. The bulk of growth comes from the OECD countries. Beyond the year 2000 the growth rate of the developing countries will start to surpass the growth rate of the OECD countries. World demand for electricity will increase by a factor of 3-5 over the first half of the next century to about 35-50 PWh in 2050. Should 40% be generated by coal then the 2500 GWe coal-fired capacity must be installed which is the equivalent of 4000 units of 600 MW each. This is a potential market for clean and more efficient coal technologies to penetrate. A new generation of clean coal plants have been developed during the '80s and the early '90s and various demonstration plants are coming on stream. This report will present a utility view on various competing coal-based technologies for the coming decade: the pulverized coal-fired plant with advanced steam data (PF-USC), the integrated coal gasification/combined cycle plant (IGCC), and the pressurized fluid-bed combustion combined cycle plant (PFBC-CC). Furthermore, the longer-term perspectives of new coal-based technologies for a deregulated market will be addressed.