China has become the first country in the world to launch a commercial power station that runs not on steam, but on supercritical carbon dioxide (CO₂). The new facility, integrated into a metallurgical plant in Guizhou Province, is already connected to the power grid and generates electricity using waste heat from production.
Using CO₂ in this special state, where it combines the properties of a liquid and a gas, delivers a major boost in efficiency. While conventional steam-turbine plants achieve efficiency of around 40%, the new Chinese installation may exceed 50%. Such a leap in efficiency is a significant step toward cleaner and more economical energy.
Each of the two modules generates 15 MW of electricity. Thanks to CO₂’s high density, the equipment is more compact and efficient than comparable systems. The technology makes it possible to use heat above 700 °C, which is a major achievement for industrial energy recovery.
Widespread deployment of such systems could help industry use energy more efficiently and cause less harm to the environment. That means that in the future we may see smart, compact, and environmentally friendly power sources in places where they were previously impossible.
