In a net-zero future, what role will coal power plants play?
Policy thinkers, engineers, and energy leaders from China and the UK gathered in Beijing to explore one answer: Repowering.
The closed-door Repower workshop, co-hosted by the Repower Initiative and strongly supported by the British Embassy Beijing, focused on accelerating the clean transition of coal-fired power.
Repurposing coal power plants into flexible, low-carbon infrastructure ensures the plants continue to provide electricity and heat, while maintaining grid integrity and inertia.
Key Takeaways:
🔹 Why Repower?
Coal plants are valuable assets which should be reimagined. With existing land, grid access, water, environmental permits and workforce, they are ideal for clean energy retrofits. They can be rebuilt faster and cheaper than greenfield sites. Repowering is a potent strategy for Energy Transition 2.0.
🔹 Lessons from the UK:
UK became the first G7 nation to phase out coal while maintaining energy security and economic growth. Clear policy direction, market instruments (such as carbon pricing), and support for workers underpinned this success. Now, several former coal sites are being transformed into solar hubs, planned SMR installations, and the UK’s first prototype of Fusion Energy.
🔹 China in Action:
Chinese experts presented real-world repowering projects, from a molten salt thermal storage plant in Suzhou to coal-to-nuclear transition models in coastal provinces. Speakers from CHN Energy, CEEC, Xiamen University, and others outlined scalable paths for “退而不废” (retreating without abandoning) coal assets.
🔹 Technology Spotlight:
High-temperature nuclear, advanced geothermal, and concentrated solar power (CSP) are promising clean heat sources to replace coal boilers. Thermal energy storage integration can boost flexibility, peak shaving, and heating stability.
🔹 The Way Forward:
Panellists stressed the need for enabling policies (capacity markets, heat pricing), financial tools, and pilot projects. A just transition must support workers, protect grid reliability, and unlock new jobs and social benefits through clean infrastructure reuse.
🌱 Bryony Worthington (Founder, Repower) concluded:
“When China decides to look into a topic, they do it with depth, with great expertise and in multiple parallel ways. Between a quarter and a half, of China’s coal resources could be repowered in some way. That’s a massive opportunity… If we can get the UK and China together creating a new solution for these energy challenges, I think that will be a gift to everybody.”
🌻 Stay tuned: Repower will return in Spring 2026 with a global summit on coal-to-clean solutions.
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