ABSTRACT

The national total water consumption and withdrawal (including both freshwater and seawater sources) by coal-fired power plants in China increased from 1.25 and 40.75 billion m3, respectively, in 2000 to 4.86 and 124.06 billion m3 in 2015. Water withdrawal is higher in water-abundant regions, including the east and south, where open-loop cooling systems are most prevalent, whereas water consumption is higher in the north where closed-loop cooling systems are widely deployed. Water use is particularly concentrated in China’s three megalopolises (i.e. Jing-Jin-Ji, Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta), alerting to the emerging challenges for China’s sustainable urbanization going forward. Per capita electricity production has been the primary contributor to the historical water use increases by China’s coal power plants, while changes in plant type and cooling technology have offset such trends. However, China’s per capita electricity consumption is still below the world average and far below that of some developed countries. Scenario analysis reveals that future water withdrawals by coal power plants are still expected to grow unless an energy transition to renewable sources or cooling technology reconfigurations are facilitated. Improving energy efficiency and transforming the energy structure could halve the water use by coal power plants. Changing cooling technologies induces tradeoffs between water withdrawal and water consumption.