On October 13, Guangdong Taishan Power Plant’s case Efficiency Enhancement Retrofit of World’s First 600 MW Subcritical Unit Sets a Benchmark for Sustainable Development was selected as a 2025 Outstanding Case in Enterprise New Quality Productive Force Development by the China Enterprise Reform and Development Society.
The project implemented the efficiency enhancement retrofit on Unit 2, one of three linked technical reforms, marking the first application of ultra-supercritical parameter technology on a subcritical unit. By raising the main and reheat steam temperature to 600°C, the unit achieved a reduction in coal consumption for power supply by 25.94 g/kWh, an annual CO₂ emissions reduction of 250,000 tonnes, an increase in deep peak-shaving capacity to 20%, and the ability to operate without auxiliary fuel. After the renovation, the unit saves 90,000 tonnes of standard coal and ¥93.48 million in fuel costs annually. The results were certified as internationally leading by the China Electricity Council, yielded three invention patents, and stimulated a retrofit market with an economic scale exceeding RMB 50 billion.
The project strongly supports the development of a new power system in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area characterized by “clean efficiency, flexible regulation, and multi-energy complementarity”. It establishes an integrated technical paradigm for subcritical unit retrofits focused on “parameter elevation, flexibility improvement, and emission reduction”. The successful implementation of the project not only represents a generational leap in subcritical unit technology but also empowers the industrial chain by driving upgrades in high-temperature materials and intelligent control equipment manufacturing. It provides a replicable “China solution” for the low-carbon transformation of subcritical units worldwide, continuously leading the new wave of thermal power technology innovation.
