Since proven world coal resources are sufficient to produce electricit
y until well into the twenty-second century, coal will remain the prim
ary fossil fuel for power generation. Growing concern about environmen
tal pollution will inevitably lead to more advanced and cleaner cycles
. Basic considerations for advanced coal fired plants are maximum avai
lability and efficiency minimum environmental emissions, optimal total
costs (investment, operational and maintenance costs) and maximum uti
lization of waste products. The currently applied pulverized coal fire
d steam cycle plant will further develop From supercritical units in t
he early 1990s (27.5 MPa, 545 degrees C, 570 degrees C) to ultrasuperc
riticar double reheat units in the next century (35.0 MPa, 600 degrees
C,600 degrees C). By additional improvements, such as increased feed-
water temperature, improved turbine blading, waste heat recovery devic
es and better back-end designs, the net thermal efficiency can be incr
eased further. Gas turbines and fuel cells provide a new basis for eff
iciency improvement early next century. Combined cycle techniques base
d on pressurized fluidized bed combustion or gasification and pressuri
zed entrained bed gasification are expected to be the competitive tech
nologies for the next decades. The coal gasification technology has ad
vantages over the coal combustion technology. First, the potential to
exploit a high gas inlet temperature for the gas turbine (high efficie
ncy) and second, the ability to utilize the sygas for high efficiency
cycles such as the fuel cell technology or in combination with chemica
l processes during night shift (powerplex principle). Finally, the rem
oval of CO2 from the syngas is potentially economically feasible. Disa
dvantages of coal gasification are the high capital costs and the comp
lexity of the installation, Integrated gasification combined cycle pla
nts are close to commercialization. They promise major reductions in e
missions and interesting options for improved efficiency. Materials ar
e a key element in further development.