Recently, air pollution has taken Chinese a great concern. The emission control of electricity industry is the key to the air quality improvement since electricity industry accounts for over 50 % of China’s coal consumption. This work introduces the progress and prospects of ultra-low emission control technologies based power generation technologies. The ultra-low emission control technologies and integrated systems are developed and optimized by the support of a series of national projects to reach the emission level of natural gas power generation units in using coal-fired units. The application and promotion of these technologies are proven to be an important solution for the air quality improvement, especially in regions with high energy-consumption, since these technologies have shown great potential for deep-cut in pollutant emissions, which will benefit both the society and the environment. In the future, the research will focus on the deep-cut of various pollutants and high-efficiency CO2 capture to lay a solid foundation for the construction of the world’s cleanest coal-fired power plants.