A coal-fired power station or coal power plant is a thermal power station that burns coal to generate electricity. A coal-fired power station is a type of fossil fuel power station. The coal is usually pulverized and then burned in a pulverized coal-fired boiler.
The furnace heat converts boiler water to steam, which is then used to spin turbines that turn generators. Thus, the chemical energy stored in coal is converted successively into thermal energy, mechanical energy, and, finally, electrical energy.
Coal that has been ground into a fine powder by a pulverize is blown into a furnace-like device, called a boiler, and burned. The heat produced converts water, which runs through a series of pipes in the boiler, to steam. The high-pressure steam turns the blades of a turbine, which is connected by a shaft to a generator. The generator spins and produces electricity.
Coal-fired power stations generate a third of the world`s electricity but cause hundreds of thousands of early deaths each year, mainly from air pollution.
Coal-fired power stations emit over 10 Gt of carbon dioxide each year, about one-fifth of world greenhouse gas emissions, so are the single largest cause of climate change. More than half of all the coal-fired electricity in the world is generated in China.
In 2020 the total number of plants started falling as they are being retired in Europe and America although still being built in Asia, almost all in China. Some remain profitable because costs to other people due to the health and environmental impact of the coal industry are not priced into the cost of generation, but there are the risk newer plants may become stranded assets.
The UN Secretary-General has said that OECD countries should stop generating electricity from coal by 2030, and the rest of the world by 2040.
