(ATF) Work got underway this week on the second phase of China’s latest nuclear project, the 36.85 billion yuan Hainan Changjiang Nuclear Power Plant.
The first tank of concrete was poured into the ground on Wednesday at what is China’s first nuclear power project in its 14th Five-Year Plan period.
The site, located in Haiwei Town, Changjiang County, Hainan, when completed will be home to two 1.2 million kilowatt nuclear power units and is the region’s largest investment project since the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Zone in 2018. The Huaneng Group are overseeing the work which is being jointly constructed with the China National Nuclear Corporation.
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As of June last year, China had 47 operational nuclear power units and 11 nuclear power units under construction. Nuclear power accounted for 4.88% of the total electricity mix, which is still dominated by coal, in 2019 but that will need to increase if China is to reach its goal of non fossil-fuel energy sources at 20% by 2025
The project is expected to take 60 months to complete and planned to be in operation by the end of 2026 when it will be able to deliver 18 billion kilowatt-hours of clean electricity to Hainan Province annually.
This second phase of the Changjiang project was approved at the State Council executive meeting in early September last year. Its controlling shareholder, the large-scale power generation central enterprise Huaneng Group, has now become the country’s fourth nuclear power group.
Huaneng can boast the largest installed power-generating capacity in Hainan Province, with a total investment of more than 30 billion yuan resulting in nearly 200 billion kilowatt-hours of power generation.
Changjiang is one of its most important bases for long-term nuclear power development.
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