China’s State Council has approved the construction of 11 nuclear reactors spread across five sites in Jiangsu, Shandong, Guangdong, Zhejiang and Guangxi provinces.
The total investment is 220 billion yuan (US$31 billion) and construction is expected to take about five years.
China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) is reportedly building the world’s first high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, which will be coupled with a pressurized water reactor (PWR).
CNNC will build two Hualong One PWRs and a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor as Phase I of its Xuwei plant in Jiangsu Province. Equipped with a steam heat exchanger station, desalinated water will be heated to produce saturated steam used for industrial heating.
Once CNNC projects are operational, predicted to generate more than 11.5 billion kWh and reduce CO2 emissions by 19.6 million tonnes per year.
As part of the licensing, CGN Power, a listed subsidiary of state-owned China General Nuclear Power Group, will build its first nuclear power project in Shandong and its 10th nuclear power base.
CGN will also build two reactors, including one at the Lufeng plant in Guangdong province, and two additional Hualong One units at San’ao in Zhejiang province.
As of June 30, 2024, CGN operated 28 reactors with a total installed capacity of 31.8 GW and had ten units under construction (12 GW). The licensing is being finalized by the State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC), which is investing 40 billion yuan ($5.6 billion) in two CAP1000 PWRs in Guangxi Province.
At a meeting, the State Council stressed the importance of safety in the development of nuclear energy to “promote the long-term and healthy development of the industry”.
China is a world leader in the construction of nuclear reactors, having approved 35 new reactors since 2019. There are currently 56 in operation, with a total installed capacity of 54.3 GW.
Energy technology‘s parent company GlobalData predictions that China’s nuclear power market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6% through 2035.
In addition to nuclear energy, there are recent data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that coal production in China has increased, while thermal power generation has been steadily declining.
“China Authorizes 11 New Nuclear Reactors in $31 Billion Investment” was originally written and published by Energy technologya brand of GlobalData.
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