A series of porous carbons (PCs) were obtained from Shengli lignite (SL) via hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) pre-treatment and followed by chemical activation with KOH. The effects of preparation parameters including HTC temperature, KOH-hydrochar ratio and activation temperature on pore structure and the electrochemical performances of PCs were investigated in details. The PCs are mainly micropores structure according to the N-2 adsorption-desorption isotherms test and the highest specific surface area (SSA) is up to 3162 m(2) g(-1). The SSA and total pore volume of PCs with HTC pre-treatment are larger than that without HTC treatment. The electrochemical performances of the symmetric electric double layer capacitor (EDLC) fabricated from these PC electrodes were tested by galvanostatic charge-discharge, cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. All the PCs as electrode for EDLC exhibit ideal capacitive behaviors in 6 M KOH electrolyte. The specific capacitance of 200-HTC-8003 can reach as high as 295 F g(-1) at the current density of 40 mA g(-1) and still retained 210 F g(-1) at the current density of 10 A g(-1). It also shows excellent electrochemical cycle performance that after 15000 cycles the specific capacitance value almost not decay. The processes used to produce the PCs can reduce the energy consumption compared to the traditional carbonization-activation method. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.