CCC/196 ISBN 978-92-9029-516-7

April 2012

copyright © IEA Clean Coal Centre

Abstract

Within the Twelfth Five-Year Plan, the Chinese Government has made addressing air quality problems

a key environmental priority, with an intention to accelerate the development of systems, institutions

and a technical knowledge base for sustained improvement. A major focus is on the coal power sector

for which standards have been introduced that require the installation of modern, very high efficiency

SO2, NOx and particulates emissions control systems. Nine key regions, which are facing very

significant air quality challenges, are the three major economic zones around the cities of Beijing,

Shanghai (Yangtze River Delta) and Guangzhou (Pearl River Delta), together with six areas around

the cities of Shenyang, Changsha, Wuhan, Chengdu Chongqing, the Shandong peninsula, and the

coastal area west of the Taiwan strait. These regions comprise the population and economic centres of

the country, accounting for 64% of national GDP, 43% of total energy use, and 39% of the population.

In these locations, all existing and new coal-fired power plants will have to achieve particulate, SO2

and NOx emissions limits of 20, 50 and 100 mg/m3 respectively, with new plants expected to meet the

standards from 1 January 2012 and existing plants by 1 July 2014. At the same time, there will be an

increasing emphasis on limiting any new coal-fired power plants in these regions. For the rest of the

country, the standards are not quite so strict and the SO2 limits for existing plants are less severe than

for new plants. The new pollutant that will be regulated on coal-fired power plants is mercury and its

compounds, for which the limit has been set at a level that represents a core control. This means that

providing the power plant operator meets the new particulate, SO2 and NOx standards then the

mercury standard should be met without the need to introduce an additional capture device, although

the emissions level will have to be measured on a regular basis. From a global perspective, this major

Chinese environmental initiative will lead to a fundamental shift in the market for power plant air

pollution control systems and services, which will mean that, in due course, there will be some major

Chinese suppliers that are well positioned to exploit international sales opportunities.