Since it is well acknowledged that the energy-only market could not ensure the generation capacity adequacy， a lot of research work has been done around the world to explore new ways to solve this important and yet difficult problem. A comprehensive analysis and comparison is made to several widely employed or established methods including similar traditional planning， capacity payments， capacity obligations and installed capacity market， locational installed capacity market， options， operating reserve payments， and capacity subscription， mainly from those aspects such as methodological design， theoretical foundation， practical experiences and basic features. Then， theoretical advantages and disadvantages， as well as the practical feasibility， the application scope and supporting measures of these methods are clarified. Finally， based on the above analysis and research， some preliminary suggestions are made for ensuring generation capacity adequacy in China.