In Taizhou, China, a vast expanse of water is adorned with four impressive square matrix photovoltaic power stations. These stations, featuring an orderly array of 34,664 high-efficiency solar panels, form a floating photovoltaic array. Installed at a 12° tilt on floating structures to maximize solar energy capture, this water-based photovoltaic system has a total capacity of 18.7 MW and an annual average power generation of about 20 million kWh. It can save approximately 6,000 tons of standard coal annually. A single day of sunlight can power over 9,000 household solar water heaters. This photovoltaic power station is CHN Energy's first grid-connected floating distributed photovoltaic power generation project and a part of Taizhou Power Plant's carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) project.
Following China's announcement of its carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals in September 2020, CHN Energy accelerated the implementation of CCUS projects. In June 2023, Taizhou Power Plant's 500,000 tons/year CCUS project was officially put into operation. CCUS refers to the process of capturing, utilizing, and storing carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial emission sources, either for direct use or storage, thus achieving CO2 emission reductions. This process provides a critical pathway for reducing carbon emissions in coal-fired power generation units.
The project has been listed as a key core technology breakthrough project for the clean and efficient utilization of coal by the National Development and Reform Commission. To date, it has set multiple records in CCUS for coal-fired power plants, including capture scale, energy efficiency indicators, and continuous operation duration, establishing itself as a benchmark in the industry for achieving the carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals.
The systematic and extensive application of green and clean technologies in the fossil energy industry is writing a new chapter of high-quality development in China. CHN Energy's Changzhou Power Plant focuses on developing clean and efficient large generation units, aiming to create a "six-type power station" that is safe, reliable, efficient, flexible, clean, low-carbon, intelligent, and smart, and integrates cogeneration and coupled development. This includes coupling with urban heating, municipal reclaimed water utilization, CCUS carbon capture, urban sludge co-combustion, and LNG cooling water utilization. These integrations ensure the harmonious coexistence of thermal power projects and the ecological environment, and their deep integration with urban development. Through technological innovations such as dual-tower dual-circulation desulfurization, low-NOx burners and SCR denitrification, wet electrostatic precipitators, and condensate wet dust removal, major pollutant emissions of the power plant have significantly decreased, achieving ultra-low emissions of SO2, NOx, and dust, as well as the synergistic removal of pollutants such as SO3 and Hg.
