# Yimin power station
**Yimin power station** (华能呼伦贝尔能源开发伊敏发电厂), also known as Huaneng Yimin power station, is an operating lignite-fired power station in Yiminhezhen, Evenki Autonomous Banner, Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia, China, with six coal-fired units totaling 3,400 MW in service and two further 660 MW units announced[1](https://www.gem.wiki/Yimin_power_station). It is the power half of China's first integrated coal-and-electricity enterprise, Huaneng Yimin Coal and Electricity Co., Ltd., which pairs the plant with the adjacent Yimin open-pit coal mine[2](https://m.thepaper.cn/baijiahao_30886920).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Location | Yiminhezhen, Evenki (Ewenke) Autonomous Banner, Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia; 48.549722, 119.773889[1](https://www.gem.wiki/Yimin_power_station) |
| Operating capacity | Six lignite-fired units totaling 3,400 MW, online 1998 to 2010; GEM lists the station as at least 3,500 MW including announced units[1](https://www.gem.wiki/Yimin_power_station) |
| Units | Phase I: 2 x 500 MW supercritical (1998, 1999); Phase II: 2 x 600 MW subcritical with CHP (2007, 2008); Phase III: 2 x 600 MW supercritical with CHP (2010)[1](https://www.gem.wiki/Yimin_power_station) • [3](https://www.china5e.com/news/news-145219-1.html) |
| Ownership | Huaneng Yimin Coal and Power Co Ltd (100%), parent China Huaneng Group Co Ltd (100%)[1](https://www.gem.wiki/Yimin_power_station) |
| Fuel | Domestic lignite, delivered from the adjacent Yimin open-pit mine by enclosed conveyor[1](https://www.gem.wiki/Yimin_power_station) • [2](https://m.thepaper.cn/baijiahao_30886920) |
| Mine capacity | Yimin open-pit mine approved at 35 million tonnes per year in 2022; 2022 single-mine output ranked first nationally[4](https://www.gem.wiki/Yimin_Surface_Mine) • [2](https://m.thepaper.cn/baijiahao_30886920) |
| Estimated CO2 | 16.0 Mt per year, with an estimated investment need of 5.7 billion dollars listed by SwitchCoal[5](https://www.switchcoal.org/en/region/inner-mongolia) |
## Phases and units
**Phase I** was built with two 500 MW supercritical units supplied from Russia, connected to the grid on 9 November 1998 and 14 September 1999 after 168-hour trial runs[3](https://www.china5e.com/news/news-145219-1.html) • [6](https://ztpd.nmgnews.com.cn/system/2009/12/16/010349657.shtml). The accompanying open-pit mine reached its design output of 5 million tonnes per year in 1998[6](https://ztpd.nmgnews.com.cn/system/2009/12/16/010349657.shtml).
**Phase II** added two 600 MW domestic subcritical units with combined heat and power capability. The state approved the phase, together with a 6-million-tonne-per-year mine expansion, in March 2005, and both units entered service in 2007 and 2008[3](https://www.china5e.com/news/news-145219-1.html).
**Phase III** comprised two further 600 MW supercritical units. Unit 6 passed its 168-hour trial run in December 2010 and was handed over to production after a construction period of only 17 months, a record for comparable units in China's high-cold regions at the time; the plant sits at high latitude with an average annual temperature of −4 degrees Celsius and winters of up to eight months[3](https://www.china5e.com/news/news-145219-1.html). With Phase III complete, the company's installed capacity reached 3,400 MW[3](https://www.china5e.com/news/news-145219-1.html).
## The coal-electricity integration model
The [State Council](https://www.edgepedia.org/state-council) designated Yimin as China's first coal-electricity joint-operation pilot, approving the integration plan in 1989; the Yimin Coal and Electricity Company was founded in 1991[2](https://m.thepaper.cn/baijiahao_30886920) • [7](https://rmrb.zhouenlai.info/%E4%BA%BA%E6%B0%91%E6%97%A5%E6%8A%A5%EF%BC%881946-2003%EF%BC%89/1998/08/1998-08-10.htm). The design principle was to convert coal into electricity on site rather than ship the coal, summarized in the slogan "let the coal travel through the air"[7](https://rmrb.zhouenlai.info/%E4%BA%BA%E6%B0%91%E6%97%A5%E6%8A%A5%EF%BC%881946-2003%EF%BC%89/1998/08/1998-08-10.htm).
The integration is physical as well as corporate. Two enclosed conveyor corridors link the mine and the plant: a blue corridor carries coal to the boilers, and an orange corridor returns combustion ash to backfill mined-out pits. The plant supplies production electricity to the mine and waste heat to industrial and [residential areas](https://www.edgepedia.org/residential-area), while groundwater drained from the coalfield is piped about 4.8 km to serve as the power station's water source. The 1998 [People's Daily](https://www.edgepedia.org/peoples-daily) report credited this water-coal-ash cycling with saving several hundred million yuan of investment in Phase I alone[7](https://rmrb.zhouenlai.info/%E4%BA%BA%E6%B0%91%E6%97%A5%E6%8A%A5%EF%BC%881946-2003%EF%BC%89/1998/08/1998-08-10.htm) • [2](https://m.thepaper.cn/baijiahao_30886920).
The integrated structure also buffered the plant against coal-price swings. In 2008, a year in which rising coal prices pushed many standalone power generators into loss, Yimin generated 10.72 billion kWh, produced 13.83 million tonnes of coal, and recorded a profit of 867 million yuan[8](https://finance.sina.cn/2021-06-11/detail-ikqciyzi8971521.d.html?vt=4). In 2023, 69.9% of the coal sold by Huaneng's mines went to the group's own power plants, with the Yimin base cited as a model of cost efficiency[9](https://www.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2024/0708/2024070800202_c.pdf).
## The associated mine
The Yimin open-pit mine lies in the same coalfield as the plant and is owned by the same Huaneng subsidiary[4](https://www.gem.wiki/Yimin_Surface_Mine). The National Mine Safety Administration approved an expansion of its capacity to 35 million tonnes per year in April 2022, and Chinese sources report that its single-mine output ranked first nationally that year[4](https://www.gem.wiki/Yimin_Surface_Mine) • [2](https://m.thepaper.cn/baijiahao_30886920). A 2024 environmental approval for further expansion describes a mine area of 24.57 square kilometers with remaining recoverable reserves of 455 million tonnes and a remaining service life of 11.8 years, with product coal moved mainly by conveyor to the Yimin power station or by dedicated rail[10](https://www.mee.gov.cn/xxgk2018/xxgk/xxgk11/202405/t20240516_1073343.html).
The mine has also become a testbed for mining automation. In 2025 a fleet of more than 100 unmanned pure-electric mining trucks of the "Huaneng Ruichi" type, which have no driver's cab, entered commercial operation at Yimin, described as the first hundred-truck deployment of unmanned electric mining trucks worldwide, with per-truck transport efficiency put at 120% of manual operation[2](https://m.thepaper.cn/baijiahao_30886920). The Yimin open-pit mine was also among the first batch of national demonstration intelligent coal mines accepted in China[11](https://www.chng.com.cn/en/documents/816545/837789/3cdbdd89-c975-457e-9f6f-76d370e1e855.pdf).
## Heating role and retrofit
The plant is the main heat source for the surrounding area of eastern [Inner Mongolia](https://www.edgepedia.org/inner-mongolia). In 2021 the company completed a 70.46 km heating pipeline, described as the world's longest in a high-cold region[2](https://m.thepaper.cn/baijiahao_30886920). Under China's "three transformations" program for coal power (energy-saving, heating-supply, and flexibility retrofits), the plant reorganized its heating system around the Phase III units 5 and 6, consolidated four separate heat networks under unified control, and reported a 5-degree-Celsius drop in return-water temperature on the open-pit network, reducing circulating-water evaporation and operating costs[12](https://www.chng.com.cn/subject/detail_25ssw/-/article/pYajnwkyFhWe/v/1294337.html).
## Expansion plans and their fate
Huaneng announced in 2011 that it planned to expand the plant to 7,000 MW by 2015, and in 2014 said it would add a [Phase IV](https://www.edgepedia.org/phase-iv) of 2 x 1,000 MW; an environmental assessment tender was subsequently filed for two 600 MW units, with a longer-term plan for six more 600 MW units in three phases, a 4,800 MW expansion of the existing station[1](https://www.gem.wiki/Yimin_power_station). A 2014 CoalSwarm report listed "Huaneng Yimin Power Generation Phase IV" at 3,200 MW as announced[13](https://rynek-gazu.cire.pl/pliki/2/coal_tracker_report.pdf). GEM's current unit table lists Phase IV Units 7 and 8 at 660 MW each with announced status[1](https://www.gem.wiki/Yimin_power_station). Following nationwide restrictions on new coal-fired capacity announced in 2016 by the National Energy Administration and the [National Development and Reform Commission](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-development-and-reform-commission), further expansion at the site appears to be on hold or canceled[1](https://www.gem.wiki/Yimin_power_station).
## Emissions and context
SwitchCoal estimates the station's CO2 emissions at 16.0 Mt per year and lists an investment need of 5.7 billion dollars[5](https://www.switchcoal.org/en/region/inner-mongolia). Satellite observations from NASA's OMI instrument show nitrogen dioxide levels above the plant declining 9.73% between 2005 and 2021, with a 2021 average of 8.358 x 1014 molecules per square centimeter and an uncertainty of 11.59%[14](https://airquality.gsfc.nasa.gov/power-plants/huaneng-yimin-power-station). The plant operates in Inner Mongolia, a region that in 2025 generated about 590 billion kWh from coal against about 277 billion kWh from wind and solar combined, and where officials describe coal units increasingly serving a supporting and regulating role alongside expanding renewables[15](https://apnews.com/article/9867147f572583e20788e4b4fdf63ce0).
## References
1. [Yimin power station, Global Energy Monitor (GEM.wiki)](https://www.gem.wiki/Yimin_power_station)
2. [四秩丰碑丨煤电一体化，它首开先河！, The Paper](https://m.thepaper.cn/baijiahao_30886920)
3. [伊敏电厂三期通过168小时试运行, 中国能源网](https://www.china5e.com/news/news-145219-1.html)
4. [华能伊敏煤电有限责任公司露天矿, Global Energy Monitor (GEM.wiki)](https://www.gem.wiki/Yimin_Surface_Mine)
5. [Coal power plants in Inner Mongolia, China, SwitchCoal](https://www.switchcoal.org/en/region/inner-mongolia)
6. [华能伊敏煤电专题, 内蒙古新闻网](https://ztpd.nmgnews.com.cn/system/2009/12/16/010349657.shtml)
7. [让煤空中走——访我国第一个煤电联营企业伊敏煤电公司, 人民日报 1998-08-10](https://rmrb.zhouenlai.info/%E4%BA%BA%E6%B0%91%E6%97%A5%E6%8A%A5%EF%BC%881946-2003%EF%BC%89/1998/08/1998-08-10.htm)
8. [煤电联营航母在伊敏启航, 新浪财经](https://finance.sina.cn/2021-06-11/detail-ikqciyzi8971521.d.html?vt=4)
9. [Huaneng offering document, HKEXnews (2024)](https://www.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2024/0708/2024070800202_c.pdf)
10. [关于华能集团华能伊敏煤电有限责任公司伊敏矿区（河西区）伊敏露天矿改扩建项目（3500万吨/年）环境影响报告书的批复, 生态环境部](https://www.mee.gov.cn/xxgk2018/xxgk/xxgk11/202405/t20240516_1073343.html)
11. [2021 Sustainability Report of China Huaneng Group](https://www.chng.com.cn/en/documents/816545/837789/3cdbdd89-c975-457e-9f6f-76d370e1e855.pdf)
12. [华能•奋进这5年：伊敏电厂, 中国华能集团](https://www.chng.com.cn/subject/detail_25ssw/-/article/pYajnwkyFhWe/v/1294337.html)
13. [Boom and Bust: Tracking the Global Coal Plant Pipeline, CoalSwarm (2014)](https://rynek-gazu.cire.pl/pliki/2/coal_tracker_report.pdf)
14. [Huaneng Yimin power station, NASA Air Quality Observations from Space](https://airquality.gsfc.nasa.gov/power-plants/huaneng-yimin-power-station)
15. [China's Inner Mongolia bets on solar and wind but coal stays close, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/9867147f572583e20788e4b4fdf63ce0)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Technology and the built world › Energy technology › Coal-fired power › Coal power stations in China › Coal power stations in Inner Mongolia*
*Initially written Oct 15, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license