GreenGen

If completed successfully, China's GreenGen project will be the first coal-fueled power plant to employ partial carbon capture and storage (CCS). The project consists of three phases, beginning with a 250 megawatt (MW) Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) plant with carbon dioxide separation at a pilot scale by 2009, expanding to 300-400 MW and carbon capture at the 100MW level before 2015, and utimately 650MW (according to Peabody Energy ; other sources are reporting 400MW) with 55-60% efficiency and over 80% of carbon dioxide separated and stored before 2020.

Although Peabody Energy describes GreenGen as employing "near zero emissions" technology, the company has not actually released figures for emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxides, particulates, mercury, arsenic, or other pollutants.

China is the largest and fastest-growing coal-consuming nation in the world; it uses coal power to generate nearly 80% of its electricity and has been building new, mostly coal-powered plants at a rate estimated to be as high as 2 gigawatts per week. However, other estimates put the rate of new generation capacity as being significantly lower. (See the "Coal plants" section in the China and coal article for more details on the variations in new coal-fired generateion estimates.)

GreenGen Shareholders
China Huaneng is the majority shareholder in GreenGen. It is China's largest power generator and one of the ten largest power companies in the world. Peabody Energy, the only non-Chinese equity partner, will have 6 percent ownership. Huaneng and Peabody also are members of the FutureGen alliance, which includes 11 coal and energy companies in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy to develop an experimental 275MW coal plant with near-zero emissions and CCS.

Additional partners for GreenGen include the Chinese government and some of China's largest utility and coal companies: China Huaneng Group with China Datang Group, China Huadian Corporation, China Guodian Corporation, China Power Investment Corporation, Shenhua Group, State Development & Investment Co., and China Coal Group.

Project Details
Sponsor: China Huaneng Group, Peabody Energy, et al. Location: Tianjin, China Capacity: 250MW expanding to 650MW Type: IGCC with CCS Projected in service: 2009 Status: Construction

Related SourceWatch Articles

 * Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)
 * Carbon Capture and Storage demonstration projects worldwide
 * Carbon Capture and Storage in China
 * China and Coal
 * FutureGen
 * Peabody Energy