Electricity and Heat Production and Supply Workers

How to become a Power Plant Control Room Operator

Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 发电集控值班员

Operates the central control systems of a power station's generating units and auxiliary equipment and monitors how the units are running.

Main tasks

Starting and stopping generating units and auxiliary equipment
Monitoring boiler, turbine, electrical, auxiliary equipment and working fluid readings through the network control system (NCS), distributed control system (DCS) and electrical control system (ECS)
Coordinating how the boiler, turbine, electrical and auxiliary equipment run together
Patrolling equipment and analysing and dealing with problems and incidents
Maintaining central control equipment and switching over and testing equipment and systems
Accepting and commissioning equipment after repairs

Ways in

Vocational majors: Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Power Generation Operation Technology (430205). Vocational major 430205 Power Generation Operation Technology (发电运行技术), 3 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向). Example certificates: Power Generation Centralised Control Operation and Maintenance; Waste to Energy Plant Operation and Maintenance.; Secondary vocational school (中职) major: Power Plant and Substation Operation and Maintenance (630101). Vocational major 630101 Power Plant and Substation Operation and Maintenance (发电厂及变电站运行与维护), 3 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向). Example certificates: Substation and Distribution Operation and Maintenance; Substation Primary Equipment Installation; Substation Secondary Equipment Installation.
National qualification: Licence to practise: Nuclear Facility Operator Qualification. You need this qualification to work in the job. Listed in the national vocational qualifications catalogue (国家职业资格目录, 2021) as Nuclear Facility Operator Qualification (核设施操纵人员资格), run by Ministry of Ecology and Environment; National Energy Administration; State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence. Peernovo links it to this occupation.

Pay · AI and this job

Median pay in China: CN¥79,000 a year (2025).
Middle half: CN¥55,300 to CN¥123,900. One in ten earn less than CN¥42,100 and one in ten more than CN¥188,500.
This is the figure for the mid group Electricity, Heat, Gas and Water Production and Distribution Workers, not for this job alone.
National figure: wage prices of enterprise employees from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) enterprise pay survey. The public sector and the self-employed are not covered.
Guangzhou only: median CN¥110,055 a year (2025), middle half CN¥76,127 to CN¥193,057.
This is the figure for the minor group Electricity and Heat Production and Supply Workers, not for this job alone.
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

The census group Electricity, Heat, Gas and Water Production and Distribution Workers holds 0.14% of everyone employed in China; 17.1% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
30.1% are under 35, 56% are 35 to 54 and 13.9% are 55 or older. The middle age band is 40 to 44.
Census figures for the whole mid group (2020 long-form sample), not for this job alone.

Questions people ask

How do I become a Power Plant Control Room Operator?

Ways in include: Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Power Generation Operation Technology (430205); Secondary vocational school (中职) major: Power Plant and Substation Operation and Maintenance (630101).

How much does a Power Plant Control Room Operator earn in China?

Across China, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥79,000 a year (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS), 2025). The public sector and the self-employed are not covered. It is the figure for the mid group Electricity, Heat, Gas and Water Production and Distribution Workers. In Guangzhou alone it is CN¥110,055 a year (2025).

Will AI change the work of a Power Plant Control Room Operator?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS): 2025 enterprise pay survey information: wage prices of enterprise employees by occupation mid group, and digital occupations (P10 to P90 annual CNY) (2025 (published 2026-07-08)), retrieved 5 October 2026
Guangzhou Human Resources and Social Security Bureau: Guangzhou 2025 labour market wage prices (P10 to P90 annual CNY by occupation) (2025 (enterprise pay survey)), retrieved 4 October 2026
National Bureau of Statistics of China: China Population Census Yearbook 2020, long-form tables 4-6 and 4-7 (employed by occupation mid group, sex, age) (2020 Census long form (10% sample)), retrieved 4 October 2026
International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Sources: Occupational Classification of the People's Republic of China (2022 edition, public consultation draft), Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, State Administration for Market Regulation and National Bureau of Statistics; Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, 2025 enterprise pay survey information; Guangzhou Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, 2025 labour market wage prices; National Bureau of Statistics of China (www.stats.gov.cn), 2020 Population Census yearbook; Ministry of Education, vocational education major profiles (2022 revision) and undergraduate major catalogue (2025); Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, national vocational qualifications catalogue (2021); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Figures processed by Peernovo. English text, translations and the matching of occupations to ISCO-08, majors, degree fields and qualifications by Peernovo.

Descriptions and tasks are Peernovo's own words, written from the facts in the Occupational Classification of the People's Republic of China (2022 edition). Job titles and work types are the classification's own.

Updated 5 October 2026