In China, the first co-combustion coal and straw system was operated successfully in Shiliquan power plant ofHuadian Power International Co. LTD. inDecember 16,2005. This was a important breakthrough in the field of biomass power generation in China.

The straw power generation technology of the Shiliquan power plant was introduced from Denmark, with which the number 5 boiler (140 MW) was optimized and integrated a 30 MW straw combustion system. In the system, purchase, stockpile, pulverization and conveying equipment for straw have been added, and at the same time two straw burners have been installed at the left and the right wall of the boiler. The air feed system and the associated control system have also been remolded, but the original boiler combustion system has not been altered. Keeping the performances and the parameters of the original boiler constant, the improved boiler can combust the mixture of pulverized coal and straw, also it could combust the pulverized coal alone. This is the first combustion for a power generation project using the mixture of straw and pulverized coal that is remolded on an old generating unit in China. If the generation unit runs for 7236 hours per year, it will consume more than 1.05 million tonnes of straw, which means 7.56 million tonnes of raw coal can be saved, whose thermal value is 5000 kcal/kg. This will bring the local peasants more than 30 million RMB per year. Compared with the coal power, the generating unit remolded by the straw power generation can reduce the sulfur dioxide exhaust by 1500 tonnes per year, it can also lighten the atmospheric pollution of harmful gas like carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and the suspended particulate effectively, which are produced through combusting the straw by the peasants.