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Supercritical CO2 opens new power frontier
26th May 2026
Rolls-Royce engineer stands next to a marine gas turbine
Constructing a working supercritical carbon (sCO2) plant has eluded engineers in the US, Europe and Japan for decades. But in December, the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) switched on a pair of grid-connected 15MW sCO2 turbines, part of a waste heat recovery system at a Guizhou steel plant.
Dubbed ‘Chaotan One’, the new turbines replace steam and have apparently been responsible for an 85% jump in energy generation efficiency, from a 50% footprint reduction.
Small and power-dense, sCO2 plants could become very interesting for naval architects in the coming years.