'Clean' coal power to go online next year

China's first self-developed integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power station is scheduled to go online in Tianjin next year, joining an elite group of such efficient power plants in the world.

Construction on the 2.1 billion yuan facility began last July. When completed, it will be among the most efficient coal-fired power stations globally, with a more than 99 percent rate of desulfurization and much lower emissions of carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide.

"Compared with an ordinary 300,000 kWh coal-fired power plant, the model IGCC power station with 250,000 kWh capacity reduces coal consumption by 70,000 tons annually, and its carbon dioxide emissions will be just one-tenth of a standard plant," said Wu Ruosi, deputy general manager of China Huaneng Group, which initiated the project.