The Repower Initiative held its first China Summit on 15 April at the Crowne Plaza Zhongguancun in Beijing, convening researchers, policymakers, financiers, and industry representatives from China and abroad to explore pathways for repowering coal power plant sites.
The one-day summit was co-organised with the China Carbon Neutrality Initiative (CCNI) at Tsinghua University’s Institute of Energy, Environment and Economy (3E Institute). Opening remarks were delivered by Zhang Xiliang, Director of the 3E Institute, Staffan Qvist, Co-founder and Chair of the Repower Initiative, and Johannes Ackva, Climate Lead at Founders Pledge.
Sessions covered the current state of coal-to-nuclear transition globally, with a keynote from the International Atomic Energy Agency, and a presentation on the status of high-temperature gas-cooled reactor development in China from Professor Wang Haitao of Tsinghua’s Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology. Professor Łukasz Bartela of Silesian University of Technology presented on Poland’s energy strategy, and Professor Zhou Sheng of the 3E Institute addressed the potential of SMRs for zero-carbon heat.
Panel discussions examined coal-to-X solutions for accelerating net-zero, with participants including representatives from the British Embassy Beijing, the Development and Research Centre of the State Council, CHN Energy Group, and the National Energy Council of Indonesia. A second panel on nuclear as a repowering alternative featured speakers from CNEA, CEEC, CGN, SPIC, and Xiamen and Tsinghua universities. A closing panel on international implementation lessons drew on experience from Poland, Indonesia, and the finance sector, including HSBC and the Powering Past Coal Alliance.
The afternoon also saw the formal launch of the RepowerScore China website, developed in collaboration with Tsinghua’s 3E Institute.
The following day, a technical workshop focused on the RepowerScore methodology, attended by academic and industry partners, alongside a separate partners’ meeting.
The summit was followed by site visits to two facilities in Huzhou, Zhejiang province. The Repower team and key partners visited a bio-waste-to-energy plant and a molten salt thermal energy storage facility, both illustrating practical approaches to low-carbon energy deployment at existing industrial sites.
The summit forms part of Repower’s ongoing programme of research and engagement focused on the repurposing of coal infrastructure in China and internationally.