Inauguration of Ningde construction

Monday, 18 February 2008

An earlier version of this story omitted to explain the origin of the CPR-1000 design.

 

An inauguration ceremony was held today at the site of the Ningde nuclear power plant in China. Ningde 1 is to be the first of four in this phase of construction.

 

The ceremony at Ningde

Site preparation at Ningde ran through 2007, with work beginning in earnest on the site in November, as scheduled. A total investment of RMB50 billion ($7 billion) should result in the completion of Ningde Phase I, with four CPR-1000 pressurized water reactors (PWRs). The site is on an uninhabited island near Qinyu in Fujian province.

 

The first unit could begin operation by the end of December 2012, the Chinese government said. Generating 1080 MWe each, the four units are projected to generate about 30 billion units of electricity per year. Phase II, consisting of two more CPR-1000s would follow later.

 

Two CPR-1000 units are currently under construction at Lingao Phase II, while six are planned for Hongyanhe, in Liaoning province. Hongyanhe will also be built in two phases: four units first, then two more at an adjacent site. A simulator suite is currently being prepared for Hongyanhe 1 and 2 for delivery in 2010, and Alstom are already contracted to provide the first four steam turbines. Another eight CPR-1000s are slated to start construction before 2012 as part of plans to increase China's nuclear capacity to 40 GWe by 2020 and up to an incredible 120-160 GWe by 2030.

 

The CPR-1000 design is a Chinese standard developed from the two Areva PWRs imported for the Daya Bay plant in Guangdong province, starting up in 1994. Those units were built to the French three-loop standard, outputting 944 MWe. The CPR-1000 builds on that to produce 1080 MWe.

 

The Chinese government reported that up to 80% of the components of the Ningde units would be sourced from Chinese firms. The project is 51% funded by the Guangdong Nuclear Investment Company Ltd, with Datang International Power Generation Co and the Fujian Coal Group completing the shareholding.

 

Power reactors in China (Source: WNA)