China is a global leader in nuclear reactor construction, approving 35 new reactors since 2019.
Currently, the country has 56 in operation, meeting 5% of its total electricity demand.
One of those is the Shidaowan HTGR nuclear power plant in Weihai City in the eastern province of Shandong.
Originally connected to the grid in 2021, Shidaowan is the world’s first fourth-generation nuclear power plant.
Equipped with a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, it went into commercial operation in December last year.
The construction cost a whopping 100 billion yuan or £13 billion at current exchange rates.
The plant is already undergoing an expansion, which will eventually allow it to produce 35 billion kilowatt-hours per year.
This is enough energy to generate electricity for 17 million three-member households for a year.
It is also the equivalent of offsetting 11.5 million tonnes of standard coal consumption and 27.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emission on an annual basis.
Zhang Aijun, vice president of the HTGR Nuclear Power Company, said: “The first phase of the expansion project includes two units of Hualong One, our domestically developed third-generation nuclear reactors with independent intellectual property rights, each with a capacity of 1.2 million kilowatts.”
He added: “We will maximise the effect of the third-generation pressurised water reactor and the fourth-generation high-temperature gas-cooled reactor integrated at the big base.”
China is on track to become the world’s largest producer of nuclear energy by 2030, overtaking France and the United States.
Beijing aims to double nuclear’s share of the national energy mix from 5 percent to 10 percent by 2035.
In August, the government approved five new nuclear power projects, adding 11 reactors with an estimated investment of 220 billion yuan (£24bn.)
The reactors will be constructed across the provinces of Jiangsu, Shandong, Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Guangxi.
Beijing is also investing heavily in renewable sources like wind and solar, as part of its energy security and emissions reduction strategy.
