Revolutionary generator transforms Chinese factories into power plants

Bullets:

Chinese engineers deployed the world's first commercially viable sCO2 power generators, at a steel mill in Guizhou.

The Supercritical Carbon Dioxide (sCO2) generator converts waste heat into electricity. Compared to traditional steam and thermal systems, the sCO2 design is more than 85% more efficient, and produces 50% more electricity.

Giant volumes of waste heat is a necessary evil in heavy industry. But these generators can be deployed across Chinese refineries, smelters, mills, and major factories, and convert waste heat into usable electricity.

Report:

Good morning.

This is a major story in engineering and industrial publications here in Asia. This is a “supercritical carbon dioxide power system.” It’s the first one in the world that is in the field, making money.

Steam engines have been around for centuries. Using steam to generate power made the Industrial Revolution possible. For the first time we could set something on fire and do something besides cook, and use it to keep warm. Steam can drive turbines, and do work.

Engineers knew from the beginning that a lot of that energy is wasted, generating that steam. Boiling water takes a lot of energy, and scientists have been looking for a better source than boiling water into steam.

SCO2 is supercritical carbon dioxide. CO2 that’s maintained in a state above critical temperature and pressure, which is over 31 degrees Celsius and 1070 psi. Once there, CO2 acts both as a liquid and as a gas, and in industrial applications, that becomes very useful. As a gas, there is less resistance, and as a liquid, it provides greater thrust. And, turning CO2 into supercritical CO2 is more energy efficient than turning water into steam.

A steel factory in Guizhou deployed two sCO2 units, 30 megawatts in total, and hooked them up to the grid. This is a steel plant—not an electric utility. This is a factory that generates a lot of heat, and now is converting that waste heat into power, and selling it back. Compared to plants that capture waste heat and make steam, using water, Chaoton One produces 50% more electricity, and improves efficiency by over 85%. What’s more, the sCO2 system is simpler, and is easier to maintain and operate.

The Green Energy people are excited about the new technology. The concept is the same as with steam turbines, but with double the efficiency, a lot smaller, and a better design. The waste thermal energy isn’t released, but instead is absorbed by the supercritical CO2. As long as this steel mill is generating waste heat, the turbines keep spinning. Electricity is being produced without generating more carbon dioxide.

What makes this such a significant breakthrough, then, is of the range of applications for this technology throughout China’s industrial sector. Any plant or factory that produces high volumes of waste heat can hook up these steam-free generators.

China is the world’s largest manufacturer. It’s the world’s largest buyer and consumer of crude oil. The world’s largest smelter for metals. So imagine all the oil refineries, steel plants, aluminum plants, shipbuilders, car makers—all the industrial-scale facilities across China who are major consumers of electricity. Nuclear power plants and mobile power units ARE electrical utilities, who are already burning coal or smashing atoms together to boil water to spin the turbines.

The carbon dioxide is not consumed or burned. It runs in a closed loop. That’s the science of it. But “closed loop” also describes the economics of this system. This steel mill in Guizhou is a consumer of electricity. It buys power to make steel. But engineers there are converting the waste heat from their steel operations into electricity, and selling it back to the grid. For this steel plant, and soon enough for thousands of other steel plants across China, this is a new revenue stream.

Be Good.

Resources and links:

CO2 can generate energy — China just proved it, and what’s next could change everything
https://www.futura-sciences.com/en/co2-can-generate-energy-china-just-proved-it-and-whats-next-could-change-everything_22341

Nuclear tech milestone: China’s supercritical ‘steam-free’ generator connects to grid
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3333982/nuclear-tech-milestone-chinas-supercritical-steam-free-generator-connects-grid

Power Generation Milestone: World's first commercial supercritical CO2 power generator begins operation in China
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2025-12-21/VHJhbnNjcmlwdDg4MDc3/index.html

World’s first commercial supercritical carbon dioxide power generator begins operation
https://interestingengineering.com/energy/worlds-first-sco2-based-power-generator-china