On May 16th, the Ministry of Science and Technology interpreted the recently released "Twelfth Five Year Plan for the Development of Clean Coal Technology". According to the interpretation of the Ministry of Science and Technology, advanced coal conversion has been identified as one of the four key directions for the development of clean coal technology. The Ministry of Science and Technology pointed out that it will strengthen basic research on coal upgrading and conversion, research and development of key core technologies for coal upgrading and comprehensive resource utilization, achieve major system technology integration, and provide technical support for the IGCC multi generation technology industrial integration demonstration project.

At present, the advanced coal conversion technology in China is not yet mature, and the problem of large-scale industrialization core technology and equipment localization needs to be further solved. Therefore, in terms of key basic research, it is necessary to carry out basic research on coal quality and transformation for the classification, transformation, and comprehensive utilization of lignite and low rank bituminous coal, strengthen basic research on the pyrolysis, gasification, hydrogenation, and combustion transformation of complex coal types, and promote basic research on new and efficient catalytic reactions. In key core technology areas, efficient conversion and comprehensive utilization of lignite and low grade bituminous coal should be carried out through new processes and technologies research and industrial demonstrations, and millions of tons of industrial equipment process packages should be developed.

The Ministry of Science and Technology pointed out that during the 12th Five Year Plan period, it is necessary to conduct systematic research on the strategic technology of coal based polygeneration, achieve the integration of key technology research and development achievements, and build a large-scale IGCC polygeneration technology industrial integration demonstration project. The project has a scale of 400-500 MW of electricity, 1 million tons/year of liquid fuel or equivalent chemicals, 3000 tons/day of coal gasification, etc. It will rely on large state-owned enterprises with comprehensive development capabilities in power generation and coal industry in China as the leading and implementing entities.