Russian coal-fired power plants today consume significantly more fuel per kilowatt-hour of electricity produced than modern power units in China, Japan, and a number of European countries. The reason is the lower efficiency of the operating power units.
Sergey Rozhenko, Head of Energy Analytics Group at Kept, explained that most Russian coal-fired TPPs operate with an efficiency of about 33–37%. This corresponds to a consumption of approximately 330–370 g of standard fuel per kilowatt-hour of electricity produced.
For comparison, modern foreign power plants using ultra-supercritical (USC) steam parameters demonstrate an efficiency level of 45–47%, and the most efficient power units are approaching the 50% mark. Their specific fuel consumption is about 280–290 grams of standard fuel per kWh.
USC allows increasing efficiency to 43–45% and reducing consumption to 280–290 grams of standard fuel per kilowatt-hour. The fuel savings can be 20–30%.
This refers to promising Russian power units with a capacity of 600 and 1000 MW, which are expected to use new steam parameters and more efficient turbines.
However, the implementation of this technology requires significant investment. According to Rozhenko, the construction of such power plants costs 10–25% more than traditional projects, and for the first power units, the cost may be even higher.