Supercritical CO₂ Power: Advances to Commercial Energy

Source: U.S. Department of Energy

In December 2025, China commissioned the world’s first commercial supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO₂) power generation unit, known as Super Carbon No.1, in Liupanshui, Guizhou. Unlike conventional power generation systems that rely on water and steam as the working fluid, sCO₂ power generation uses carbon dioxide in a supercritical state to convert heat into electricity. In practice, this technology is designed to replace traditional steam-based power generation, particularly such as industrial waste heat recovery and other high-temperature thermal applications.

The distinction lies in how energy is converted.

Traditional steam systems depend on water–steam phase change, which requires large equipment, significant cooling, and substantial water consumption. By contrast, the sCO₂ cycle operates in a closed-loop Brayton cycle without any phase change, enabling much higher efficiency, a significantly smaller system footprint, and minimal water use. Super Carbon No.1 delivers approximately 85% higher power generation efficiency and around 50% more net electricity output compared with conventional steam-based waste heat power systems using the same heat source.

This milestone marks the first time sCO₂ power cycle technology has moved beyond laboratory research and pilot demonstrations into real, grid-connected industrial operation. More importantly, it demonstrates that sCO₂ power is not only a technical innovation, but also a commercially viable pathway for improving energy efficiency, reducing resource constraints, and reshaping how thermal energy is converted into electricity, both in China and globally.

Why This Matters

The significance of supercritical CO₂ (sCO₂) power generation goes far beyond a single technological breakthrough or national first. At the system level, it directly addresses three structural challenges facing power systems worldwide: efficiency limits, water constraints, and the underutilization of thermal energy.

• Globally, a vast amount of high-temperature heat, especially from heavy industry, fossil fuel power plants, and nuclear reactors, is still converted into electricity using steam-based systems whose efficiency gains have largely plateaued. The sCO₂ cycle offers a fundamentally different pathway by breaking away from water–steam phase change, enabling higher efficiency in a much more compact and water-light configuration. (China Central Television, 2025) This makes it particularly relevant not only for decarbonization, but also for energy system modernization.

• Equally important is the water dimension. Many regions facing rapid electrification and industrial growth are also confronting severe water stress, a trend increasingly recognized as a structural constraint on energy systems and economic development globally (World Bank, 2016). Technologies that can decouple power generation from large-scale water consumption are therefore becoming system-critical rather than optional. By minimizing or eliminating cooling water demand, sCO₂ power directly responds to this emerging constraint (Beijing Youth Daily, 2025).

• Finally, the commercial performance demonstrated by China’s first industrial deployment suggests that sCO₂ power is not a distant future option, but a near-term system upgrade that can be integrated into existing industrial and thermal infrastructures. In this sense, sCO₂ power should be understood not as a niche technology, but as a potential new baseline for how thermal energy is converted into electricity in the decades ahead. (China Central Television, 2025)

Taken together, these system-level challenges highlight why the distinction between conventional steam-based power generation and supercritical CO₂ power is not merely technical, but structural. To make this difference more concrete, the table below summarizes how sCO₂ power compares with traditional steam-based systems across key dimensions such as efficiency, water use, and physical footprint.

Sources: China Central Television (2025); Beijing Youth Daily (2025). Heller, Glos, & Buck. (2026)

How the Technology Works and How it Compares Internationally

Supercritical CO₂ (sCO₂) power generation is a high-efficiency thermal power conversion technology. Rather than using water and steam, it uses carbon dioxide in a supercritical state as the working fluid to convert heat into electricity. The technology does not define where the heat comes from; instead, it determines how efficiently that heat is turned into power.

Carbon dioxide becomes supercritical when it is compressed and heated beyond 31°C and 7.38 MPa, at which point it no longer behaves as a conventional gas or liquid. In this state, CO₂ combines high density, which improves energy transfer, with low viscosity, which reduces friction and compression losses. These properties allow turbines and heat exchangers to be significantly smaller and more efficient than those used in steam-based systems.

In practice, sCO₂ systems operate in a closed-loop Brayton cycle. Heat raises the temperature and pressure of CO₂, which then expands through a turbine to generate electricity. After expansion, the CO₂ is cooled, recompressed, and reused in a continuous loop. Because the process avoids water–steam phase change entirely, it eliminates the need for large boilers, condensers, and cooling towers.

In China’s Super Carbon No.1 project, the system is powered by approximately 400°C industrial waste heat from a steel sintering process. Compared with conventional steam-based waste heat power generation, the sCO₂ system achieves about 85% higher conversion efficiency and roughly 50% higher net electricity output, while occupying a much smaller physical footprint and using far less water (China Central Television, 2025; Beijing Youth Daily, 2025).

Crucially, the project has demonstrated not only technical performance but also clear economic viability. According to Huang Yanping, the project’s chief engineer, by maximizing the conversion of industrial waste heat into electricity and based on local electricity tariffs, the system is expected to generate approximately RMB 50 million (about USD 7 million) in additional net cash flow per year, with the full investment cost recoverable in around three years (China Central Television, 2025). This short payback period suggests that sCO₂ power is not an experimental concept, but a commercially deployable solution for heavy industry and thermal energy systems.

While the operating principles of supercritical CO₂ power systems are broadly shared across countries, their pathways to deployment have diverged significantly. Differences in energy systems, industrial structure, policy priorities, and risk tolerance have shaped how sCO₂ technology is being developed, tested, and deployed in different regions. As a result, understanding sCO₂ power today requires not only examining how the technology works, but also how it is being applied in practice across major economies.

While the underlying physics of sCO₂ power is well understood globally, China’s approach differs in its focus on near-term industrial integration and commercial performance. By moving directly into operating industrial environments, China provides real-world data on efficiency, reliability, and economics, data that will be critical for global adoption and international collaboration.

Action Items

For advanced economies and emerging markets alike, countries should avoid viewing sCO₂ power solely through a geopolitical lens and instead focus on its system-level value for decarbonization, energy efficiency, and water security. Joint demonstration projects in regions with strong industrial heat demand or acute water stress could deliver both climate and development dividends.

To support this:

• Governments should embed sCO₂ power in long-term energy transition strategies and support a small number of internationally coordinated demonstration projects, especially in industrial and water-constrained regions.

• Industry should accelerate early deployments in waste heat recovery and hybrid energy systems to build operational experience and reduce costs through learning-by-doing.

• International institutions and standards bodies should move quickly to establish common technical standards, safety frameworks, and performance benchmarks to enable global scaling and avoid fragmentation.

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