Preparations begin for new Chinese plant
19 February 2024
A ground-breaking ceremony has been held to mark the start of construction of the first phase of the Jinqimen nuclear power plant in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) announced.
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A rendering showing the proposed layout of the six-unit Jinqimen plant (Image: CNNC)
The construction of two 1200 MWe Hualong One reactors as Phase I of the Jinqimen plant was approved by China's State Council at a meeting on 29 December last year.
CNNC noted that units 1 and 2 of the Jinqimen plant have been included in the national plan and have undergone a comprehensive safety assessment review.
CNNC subsidiary CNNC Zhejiang Energy Co Ltd will be responsible for project investment, construction and operations management of the new plant, which will eventually house six Hualong One units.
Once all six units have been completed, the total installed capacity of the Jinqimen plant will be about 7.2 GWe, and the annual grid-connected electricity will be some 55 TWh, which according to CNNC is equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 50 million tonnes.
The first two demonstration units of CNNC's version of the Hualong One design at the Fuqing plant in Fujian Province have both already started up. Unit 5 entered commercial operation on 30 January 2021, with unit 6 following on 25 March 2022. CNNC is also building two Hualong Ones as units 1 and 2 of the Zhangzhou plant, also in Fujian Province, construction of which began in October 2019 and September 2020, respectively. Construction of two Hualong Ones as units 3 and 4 of the Changjiang plant, in Hainan Province, has also been under way since March 2021 and December 2021, respectively.
Two Hualong One (HPR1000) reactors have also been constructed as units 2 and 3 of the Karachi plant in Pakistan's Sindh Province, marking the first exports of CNNC's Hualong One design. Construction of unit 2 began in 2015 and unit 3 in 2016. These entered commercial operation in May 2021 and April 2022, respectively. A further Hualong One is planned as unit 5 of Pakistan's Chashma nuclear power plant in Punjab Province.
Researched and written by World Nuclear News