China's Newest Power Plant Swaps Steam for Supercritical CO2
China has begun construction on the Ruitan demonstration project in Shandong province, a hybridized power plant that will store surplus energy as molten salt and generate electricity at peak times using a 50 MW supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) unit paired with 100 MW of molten salt storage. The facility, sited at the existing Bajiao coal-fired plant in Yantai, is expected to enter operation next year and would be the first of its kind if completed on schedule. The design replaces steam turbines with an sCO2 closed-loop system that operates with carbon dioxide in a supercritical state to drive a turbine.
Why It Matters
The project tests a novel thermal storage-plus-sCO2 generation approach that could reduce water use, increase conversion efficiency, and provide grid flexibility by shifting low-value surplus energy to peak-period generation. Outcomes from Ruitan may inform next-generation energy and storage systems, including potential applications in nuclear power and other advanced deployments.
Key Facts
- Project name: Ruitan demonstration project
- Location: Bajiao power station site, Yantai, Shandong province, China
- Construction begun: Last week (relative to report)
- Expected operation: Next year (relative to report)
- Generation capacity (sCO2 unit): 50 megawatts
Construction has started on the Ruitan demonstration facility in eastern China’s Shandong province, a hybridized energy plant that will pair molten salt thermal storage with a supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) power unit. The site is being developed at the existing Bajiao coal-fired power station in Yantai and is scheduled to begin operations next year, at which point the project would be the first operational installation of its kind worldwide.
The design captures surplus electricity from the coal plant during periods of low demand and converts that energy into thermal storage by heating molten salt. When grid demand rises, the stored thermal energy will drive a supercritical carbon dioxide turbine in a closed-loop system rather than producing steam as in a conventional plant. In the supercritical state, CO2 is maintained at temperature and pressure conditions where it exhibits both liquid- and gas-like properties, enabling it to spin a turbine efficiently.
Advocates of sCO2 technology highlight several potential advantages of the approach: smaller plant footprints compared with traditional units, elimination of water for cooling, higher thermal-to-electric conversion efficiency, and reduced carbon emissions relative to comparable steam-based systems, according to reporting cited in the source. The Ruitan facility’s combination of 100 MW of molten salt storage and a 50 MW sCO2 generator is explicitly intended to limit energy waste and help stabilize the local grid by shifting supply to peak periods.
The Ruitan project is one of many advanced clean-energy demonstrations underway in China amid rapid growth in domestic R&D and patenting in low-carbon technologies. The source notes that Chinese companies increased their share of global clean-energy patent applications from roughly 5% in 2000 to 75% by 2022, and that China invested heavily in energy between 2019 and 2025, contributing a majority of global clean-energy spending. Observers cited in the reporting suggest the experiment could yield insights relevant to future energy systems, including applications in nuclear power and other novel environments.
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