Coal
Coal still supplies about a third of the world's electricity, carried by a huge existing fleet of power stations. But this fleet is in managed decline: developed countries are closing more capacity than they build. The engineering challenge is no longer to build, but to flexibilize, control emissions, co-fire biomass and plan closure.
The main families
Pulverized coal, fluidized bed, supercritical
Combustion ranges from classic pulverized coal to circulating fluidized bed (difficult fuels, in-furnace desulfurization). Supercritical and ultra-supercritical boilers raise steam pressure and temperature to gain efficiency and cut CO₂ per MWh.
FGD, DeNOx, particulate control, CO₂
The flue-gas train captures SO₂ by desulfurization (FGD), reduces NOx by selective catalytic reduction (SCR), and stops particulates with electrostatic precipitators (ESP) or bag filters. CO₂ remains the unsolved challenge: captured only in a few installations.
Biomass co-firing, gas conversion, closure
Gradual exit: biomass co-firing to cut fossil CO₂, conversion of plants to gas, then closure and repurposing of the site (grid, land, jobs). End-of-life planning becomes an engineering project in its own right.
Key challenges
- Efficiency — moving to supercritical and ultra-supercritical raises steam pressure and temperature, cutting coal consumption and therefore the CO₂ emitted per MWh produced.
- Emissions & BAT — the EU Industrial Emissions Directive (IED 2010/75/EU) and the Large Combustion Plants BREF impose strict limits for SO₂, NOx, dust and mercury.
- Flexibility — to back up renewables, plants must follow the load: frequent starts, steep ramps, part-load operation — all hard on boilers designed for baseload.
- Programmed phase-out — national closure schedules turn plants into stranded assets: write them off, repurpose the site and workforce, and keep the grid secure through the transition.
See also
Coal-specific standards
- IED 2010/75/EU + LCP BREF (BAT) — The EU Industrial Emissions Directive and the Large Combustion Plants reference document set the emission limits associated with best available techniques (BAT).
- IEC 61508 — Functional safety of E/E/PE systems: basis for the burner management system (BMS) and boiler emergency shutdown functions.
- IEC 61511 — Functional safety for the process industry: sector application of 61508 to a plant's safety instrumented systems.
Related standard pages on IndustryHub
Major players
Producers & operators
RWE, China Energy, NTPC, Eskom.
Boilers
GE Vernova, Mitsubishi Power, Doosan, BHEL.
Emissions control
Babcock, Mitsubishi Power, Andritz.
Automation
Emerson, ABB, Siemens.
Landmark facts
| Fact | Year | Place | Lesson |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK's exit from coal | 2024 | Ratcliffe-on-Soar | The UK's last coal power station closed in September 2024, ending about 140 years of coal-fired power in the country that started it. |
| German coal phase-out law | 2020 | Germany | Germany legislated a coal phase-out (target set up to 2038, since accelerated), a model of managed decline rather than abrupt shutdown. |