Solar tower aided coal-fired power generation is a kind of technology which can improve the utilization of solar thermal energy and reduce coal consumption. In this technology

solar tower thermal energy with high temperature is coupled with the conventional coal-fired power generation systems. And the solar tower field generated high temperature steam to work in the coal-fired power plants. In this paper

the electricity generation and the composition thereof(generated from coal and solar energy) as well as techno-economic analysis during the whole lifecycle of an 1 000 MW solar tower aided coal-fired power generation system(STCG) are studied under variable direct normal irradiance(DNI) and grid power dispatching. The results show that the average solar-toelectricity efficiency of STCG is 18.2%

which is higher than common solar tower power plants. Levelized costs of electricity(LCOE) of STCG plant project is 0.319 yuan/(k W·h)

and internal rate of return is 11.29%

which show a good profitability and a low investment cost. In addition

STCG can save 2.574 million tons of coal and reduce 7.238 million tons of CO2 emission compared with coal-fired power plant with the same power dispatching. When considering the costs of CO2 capture

the feed-in tariff subsidy should be 0.065 yuan/(k W·h) for STCG to have the same market competitiveness with the same capacity coal-fired power plants.