A coordinated robust nonlinear control scheme for a boiler-turbine-generator system is usually difficult to build using nonlinear methods based on the exact static-state feedback linearization (EFL) due to the deficiency of accurate parameter information. This paper presents a novel coordinated robust nonlinear control scheme for a boiler-turbine-generator system, in which, the approximate dynamic feedback linearization is established by constructing a family of second-order extended state observers that can estimate and compensate the system nonlinearities and disturbances. In this paper, the Hoc robust control design based on the partial linearized model is applied for the first time to a complete thermal power generation system consisting of boiler, turbine, and generator. The performance of the proposed coordinated robust nonlinear controller is evaluated and compared with conventional PID and EFL controllers. The corresponding simulation results illustrate that the proposed control system does outperform those conventional ones in terms of both robustness and applicability. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.