China successfully tested 50 percent green hydrogen co-firing and 100 percent pure hydrogen combustion in a coal-fired boiler on Sunday, a world-first breakthrough by China Energy Investment Corp (CHN Energy) that propels the nation to the global forefront of zero-carbon fuel substitution and offers a critical pathway to decarbonize its massive traditional power sector.

The success of this trial hinges on a fully self-developed hydrogen-coal mixed low-nitrogen burner. Deployed on a 40-megawatt coal-fired boiler, the technology achieved a 50 percent heat-ratio hydrogen co-firing, said CHN Energy, the country's largest coal-fired power generator by capacity.

This achievement directly translates to a staggering 50 percent reduction in both coal consumption and carbon emissions, coupled with highly effective synergistic nitrogen emission reductions, setting a new technical benchmark for clean power generation worldwide, it said.

Industry experts believe that as coal still plays a key role in China's energy consumption, the green and low-carbon transition of the coal power industry is paramount to realizing the country's ambitious "dual-carbon" goals.

This technological leap pioneers an effective pathway for massive carbon reductions in existing coal-fired units and stands as a significant milestone for the integration of coal power with renewable energy sources, they say.

Despite the rapid global march of green energy, China Academy of Engineering academician Hao Jiming emphasized that the "ballast stone" role of traditional coal power remains essential for grid stability.

China's fundamental energy reality is characterized by "abundant coal and scarce oil", meaning coal will continue playing a key role for the country in the near term, said Hao.

Because wind and solar power are inherently intermittent and subject to weather fluctuations, the reliable baseline generation capacity and flexible regulatory power of traditional coal facilities are temporarily irreplaceable for national energy security, he said.

This reality makes the low-carbon transformation of coal power exceptionally urgent.

Chen Zongfa, chief expert at the China Electricity Council Expert Group, said low-carbon retrofitting is no longer an elective course for coal power enterprises, but a mandatory one.

While acknowledging that green hydrogen co-firing currently faces high short-term costs and relies heavily on regions with abundant renewable resources and stable green ammonia supplies, Chen said targeted investment and technological innovation will lead to widespread application in the mid-to-long term.

China has already sounded the bugle for a new generation of coal power upgrades. Under the action plan for accelerating the construction of a new power system released by the National Energy Administration, upgrading coal power is a central mission.

The policy emphasizes clean and low-carbon operations, efficient regulation, rapid load shifting and deep peak shaving. Implementing zero-carbon fuel co-firing alongside carbon capture, utilization and storage technologies is explicitly highlighted as a crucial strategy to drastically slash coal power emissions, according to the plan.

Pan Yuelong, supervisor of the CEC, said that through ongoing energy-saving, ultra-low emission, and flexibility retrofits, coal power is already providing a vital foundational guarantee to the grid.

"Relying on scientific innovation, industrial optimization, policy support and international cooperation, we will gradually transition coal power from a primary power source to a foundational and regulatory one," Pan said.

zhengxin@chinadaily.com.cn