Work

Operational-level synergistic strategy for enhancing carbon benefits in coal-fired power plants

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Considering the impact of total carbon emission management policy in China, the coal-fired power plants (CFPP) must not only promote the large-scale deployment of zero-carbon/negative-carbon technologies in the long term, but also achieve staged carbon reduction targets in the short term through the optimization of operational-level emission reduction strategy. Given that the application of CCUS technology in China's CFPP is still subject to multiple constraints, this study has developed an hourly plant-level optimization strategy that integrates load dispatching with dynamic coal blending as a synergistic strategy. The study examines the carbon benefit of the load dispatching strategy for the total carbon emission management system in CFPP, and compares it with the benefit of the synergistic strategy. The results indicate that the load dispatching optimization strategy can significantly reduce the carbon emissions of the unit. Compared with the traditional load distribution method, it can achieve a maximum net reduction of 5.8 tons of CO2/h. For each 1% increase in the load dispatched to high-efficiency units, the total carbon emissions of the plant can be reduced by 0.23%. Synergistic strategy at the operational-level can stimulate the intrinsic emission reduction potential of CFPP. Compared with the individual load dispatching optimization strategy, the synergistic strategy can achieve a net CO2 reduction of 11306.71 tons per year, and the average carbon emission factor of CFPP under the influence of the synergistic strategy has decreased by 0.87%. In addition, the carbon benefits of the synergistic strategy exhibit a high degree of sensitivity to fluctuations in carbon prices. With the increasing carbon price, the total carbon emissions and carbon emission factor of CFPP under the high carbon price scenario decrease by an average of 1.28% compared to the low carbon price scenario. The synergistic strategy can be widely applied to units with large load fluctuation ranges, such as peak load power generator sets. During the transition period of the industry towards long-term deep decarbonization, it provides an immediate and feasible emission reduction path for CFPP.

Source: Energy Conversion and Management X

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecmx.2026.101777