China’s State Council has given the green light for work to begin on two Hualong One reactors at the Taipingling nuclear power plant in Guangdong, and two more at the Jinqimen site in Zhejiang, a province in eastern China.
According to World Nuclear News, the meeting chaired by premier Li Qiang approved China General Nuclear’s plan to add units three and four to Taipingling.
When finished, the plant will have six home-made gen III Hualong reactors with a total output of 7.2GW.
This will cut coal consumption by over 15 million tonnes, which will in turn reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 41.2 million tonnes, equivalent to planting 113,000ha of forest, the Yicai news site reports.
The Jinqimen site is also a greenfield project, and is being developed by China National Nuclear Corporation. When complete, it will also have six reactors with the first scheduled to start generating in 2028.
No price was given for the projects, but a Hualong One unit typically costs about $2.8bn to build, giving a minimum total cost for the four units of $11.2bn.
Last year, a further 10 reactors were announced, in line with China’s ambitious civil nuclear building plans.
China currently has 55 nuclear plants, contributing 57GW to the country’s total installed capacity of 2,564GW. Another 27.7GW are under construction.
The aim is to reach between 120 and 150GW by 2030, and to develop an export market for the Hualong One.
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