China's Fossil Fuel Market and IGCC

중국의 석탄 에너지 시장과 IGCC

With current real economic growth of more than 10% per year, the Chinese energy consumption is rapidly increasing. Coal supply consists of the vast majority of China's total energy consumption requirements in 2008. China, the largest energy consumer, is expected to be heavily dependent on coal for future power generation, too (IEA,2009). A growing concern on global warming, on the other hand, drives Chinese government to declare her commitment to the reduction of CO2 emission by 2020. In this paper, China's energy market is examined for the current and future primary energy mix. Coal is found to be the biggest part accounting for 68.7% of total primary energy consumption while coal-fired power accounts for over 80% of the total power generation. The importance of Clean Coal Technology is being discussed based on the findings of the importance of coal in China's economy and its sustainable development. Among the technologies involved, a brief investigation of IGCC(Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle) technology with a review on current IGCC projects in China are provided from the perspective of environmental benefits. Studies on regional Chinese power market is also conducted. It is found that the regulated power tariff in electricity system makes the power suppliers suffer from financial loss and changes in the electricity price system is under serious consideration by Chinese government. Even though Chinese power market system causes difficulties of commercialization for IGCC technology, the potential benefits will be high due to China's huge requirements of power generating capacity and its heavy reliance on coal if the electricity price system can be changed smoothly.