China's Taishan 1 reactor connected to grid

Friday, 29 June 2018

The Taishan project - 140 kilometres west of Hong Kong - is owned by the Guangdong Taishan Nuclear Power Joint Venture Company Limited, a joint venture between EDF (30%) and CGN. Unit 1 of the power plant started construction in 2009, followed by unit 2 in 2010. These two units are the third and fourth EPR units under construction globally. The EPR design adopted in Taishan was developed by Framatome.

Zheng Dongshan, CEO of CGN UK, said: "Safe and efficient connection of the new Taishan 1 reactor to the grid is a major step forward in China, but is also important for the UK, where the same EPR technology will be used at Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C. The fact that an EPR power station has been linked to the electricity network for the first time reinforces our strong confidence in this reactor technology and in the HPC project as a whole."

Framatome said the unit had been connected to the grid at 5:59 pm local time.

The company's chairman and CEO, Bernard Fontana, said the successful grid connection of Taishan 1 is a historical moment for the whole nuclear industry.

"It is the result of years of engineering carried out by our company and a fruitful cooperation with our client TNPJVC as well as with CGN and EDF, our main shareholder and partner.We are now focused on supporting our client in the start of commercial operation of unit 1," he said.

"We also remain fully engaged in the completion and start-up of Taishan 2, Flamanville 3 and Olkiluoto 3, and in the delivery of Hinkley Point C in the United Kingdom. All current and future EPR projects will also benefit from the broad experience acquired by our teams."

Since the construction of Daya Bay nuclear power plant, Framatome said it has had a "historically strong presence" in China.

Fontana added: "During all these years we have been cooperating with our Chinese partners through a comprehensive localisation process to develop its domestic industry further."

CGN, EDF and Guangdong Yudian Group invested jointly in the Taishan nuclear power plant. Framatome contributed major parts of the plant's nuclear scope including nuclear steam supply system, safety instrumentation & control, procurement and support to erection and commissioning.

Unit 1 has an installed capacity of 1660 MWe and can deliver reliable low-carbon electricity to more than four million Chinese households.