IEA forecast: Global coal demand to reach 8.94 billion tonnes in 2026. World's first molten salt-coupled CO2 power generation project starts construction at Huaneng
（2026/9/14—2026/9/20）
Author: Shu-Xin Zhang
International Energy News
1. IEA forecast: Global coal demand to reach 8.94 billion tonnes in 2026
The International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts that global coal demand will reach 8.94 billion tonnes in 2026, up about 1.2% from 2025 and setting a new historical record. This means that earlier expectations of coal "peaking" have once again been dashed.
The IEA attributes the core driver of this upward revision to the situation in the Strait of Hormuz triggered by the Middle East conflict. The report notes that since the outbreak of the US-Iran war, the transport of crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) through the waterway has been continuously disrupted, causing natural gas prices to rise sharply and highlighting coal's comparative advantage in power generation costs. Although coal shipments themselves do not pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the blocked LNG route has significantly tightened global gas fuel supply. Against this backdrop, major economies with gas-fired power units and surplus coal capacity, such as Europe, Japan and South Korea, have significantly increased coal-fired power generation, with coal consumption exceeding previous expectations. In addition, an unusually strong El Niño phenomenon is expected to increase cooling demand and reduce hydropower output, further pushing power grids to rely more on coal to fill the gap.
2. Global nuclear power capacity could triple by 2060
The International Atomic Energy Agency released its "Energy, Electricity and Nuclear Power Estimates for the Period up to 2060" outlook report on the 14th, showing that global nuclear power installed capacity could more than triple by 2060, with small modular reactors expected to become an important new source of clean energy. This is the sixth consecutive year that the agency has raised its forecast for nuclear power expansion.
Data from the report show that by the end of 2025, there were 413 nuclear reactors in operation worldwide, providing 377.1 GW of nuclear power installed capacity. The report predicts that by 2060, global nuclear power installed capacity will rise to 696 GW under the low estimate, about twice the 2025 level, and to 1,284 GW under the high estimate, about 3.4 times the 2025 level.
According to the report, the role of small modular reactors will continue to expand in the coming decades. In the high estimate, 28% of all new nuclear power capacity by 2060 will come from small modular reactors, while in the low estimate this proportion is 23%. The report also stresses the need to prepare for reactor decommissioning. Data show that two out of every three nuclear reactors have been in operation for more than 30 years, and 45% have been in operation for more than 40 years.
3. Main control building of Africa's largest independent energy storage project under construction capped
On September 12 local time, the main control building of the 500MW/1050MWh Nefertiti independent energy storage project in Egypt, built under a general contracting arrangement by China Energy Engineering International Group, Zhejiang Thermal Power and Southwest Electric Power Design Institute, was successfully capped, marking that the project has entered a critical stage.
Since the start of construction, the project team has coordinated design, procurement, construction and other forces, strictly adhered to safety and quality bottom lines, and maintained full-process supervision and item-by-item checks on key procedures such as steel bar tying, formwork support, and concrete pouring and curing, effectively overcoming difficulties such as cross-operation and achieving the capping of the main control building on schedule. At the same time, the project department has adhered to localized development, actively recruited local workers and carried out skills training, promoting local employment while advancing project construction.
The project is located in the desert area of southern Egypt and is currently the largest independent energy storage project under construction in Africa. After completion and operation, it will effectively smooth fluctuations in renewable energy generation, enhance the peak-shaving and frequency-regulation capacity of Egypt's power grid, help build a green energy hub in North Africa, and provide solid support for Egypt to achieve its 2030 clean energy development goals.
Domestic energy news
1. World's first molten salt-coupled CO2 power generation project starts construction at Huaneng
On September 16, the world's first commercial demonstration project for molten salt-coupled supercritical CO2 cycle power generation, "Ruicarbon," started construction at Huaneng Shandong Bajiao Power Plant. The project plans to build one of the world's largest 50 MW supercritical CO2 power generation units, supported by a 100 MW/400 MWh molten salt energy storage system. As the carrier project of the national major science and technology project "Key Technology Development and Engineering Demonstration of CO2 'Thermal Battery,'" its construction marks a key step forward for China in the field of supercritical CO2 cycle power generation technology integrated with new energy storage.
Compared with traditional thermal power units that use steam as the cycle working fluid, supercritical CO2 power generation units use supercritical CO2 as the cycle working fluid to drive the unit to generate electricity. The Huaneng "Ruicarbon" demonstration project innovatively adopts a "molten salt energy storage + CO2 power generation" approach, with a power generation capacity of 50 MW and a working fluid temperature of 550°C. Once completed, it will be the world's largest-capacity and highest-parameter demonstration project for supercritical CO2 power cycle technology. During low power demand periods, the project can use surplus electricity from the two existing ultra-supercritical cogeneration units at Huaneng Shandong Bajiao Power Plant to heat molten salt, converting electricity into thermal energy and storing it in the molten salt "power bank." During peak power demand periods, the high-temperature molten salt releases heat to warm the CO2, which then drives the unit to generate electricity, significantly improving the deep regulation and heating guarantee capacity of coal-fired power units.
The demonstration project is planned to be put into operation within 2027, providing valuable practical experience for the large-scale application of new energy storage technologies in multiple scenarios, contributing a "Huaneng solution" to the construction of China's new power system, and also providing a "China model" for the low-carbon transformation of the global energy structure and the enhancement of renewable energy consumption capacity.
2. First unit of Asia's largest single-unit-capacity gas power plant put into operation
Recently, Unit 2 of the SDIC Zhoushan 2×745 MW-class gas power generation project, supplied as a complete set by Harbin Electric Corporation, successfully passed a 168-hour trial operation, marking the full-load commercial operation of the first unit of Asia's largest single-unit-capacity gas power plant.
The SDIC Zhoushan 2×745 MW-class gas power generation project is equipped with two 9HA.02 heavy-duty gas-steam combined cycle units, with a total installed capacity of 2×848.31 MW. As a key energy project under Zhejiang Province's "14th Five-Year Plan" "Thousand Projects, Trillion Yuan" initiative, after being put into operation, the project's maximum annual power generation can reach 5.054 billion kWh, with carbon emission intensity only 40% that of coal-fired units of the same capacity level, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 2.49 million tonnes per year. It will effectively enhance Zhejiang's power grid peak-shaving capacity and power supply reliability, injecting strong momentum into the realization of the "dual carbon" goals and the high-quality economic and social development of the region.
Harbin Electric Corporation's Turbine Company customized a three-pressure, reheat, three-cylinder two-exhaust reaction condensing steam turbine for the project, adopting a multi-stage small-enthalpy-drop reaction design and possessing outstanding capabilities such as frequent rapid startup and flexible load raising and lowering. Harbin Electric Corporation's Electric Motor Company provided Asia's largest-capacity single-shaft water-hydrogen-cooled turbogenerator for the project, with multiple advantages including large output, low vibration and high efficiency.
3. "Capital gas supply lifeline" cumulative gas transmission exceeds 800 billion cubic meters
As of September 14, the Shaanxi-Beijing pipeline system of PipeChina Beijing Pipeline Company has transported more than 800 billion cubic meters of natural gas cumulatively, providing a steady stream of clean energy to more than 70 cities, over 1,000 large and medium-sized enterprises, and 120 million residents along the pipeline route.
A relevant official introduced that more than 95% of Beijing's natural gas is transported by the Shaanxi-Beijing pipeline, which is why it is known as the "capital gas supply lifeline." The Shaanxi-Beijing pipeline system mainly includes the Shaanxi-Beijing Line 1, Line 2, Line 3, Line 4 and the Beijing section of the Datang coal-to-gas project, with total pipeline assets of 5,599 kilometers, supported by two gas storage depot groups with nine gas storage facilities, a designed pipeline transmission capacity of about 80 billion cubic meters per year, and a maximum peak-shaving gas supply capacity of 40 million cubic meters per day.
Since being transferred to PipeChina in 2021, Beijing Pipeline Company has deeply integrated into the "national unified network," continuously promoting the fair opening of the Shaanxi-Beijing pipeline to upstream and downstream customers, with commercial gas transmission volumes repeatedly reaching new highs.
(Main news sources: CCTVNEWS APP, Xinhua New Media, International Energy Network, China Energy Network, National Energy Administration)
