Groundworks begin for new Chinese plant

Friday, 3 January 2025

The construction of Phase I (units 1 and 2) of the Bailong plant was among approvals for 11 new reactors granted by China's State Council in August last year. State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) plans to build two CAP1000 pressurised water reactors - the Chinese version of the Westinghouse AP1000 - as the first phase of the plant. An investment of about CNY40 billion (USD5.6 billion) is planned for the two units, which are expected to take 56 months to construct.

"The negative excavation of the nuclear island is an important node in the construction of nuclear power, marking another solid step forward in the construction of the Bailong nuclear power plant," said SPIC subsidiary Guangxi Nuclear Power Company Ltd.

The company noted that "vertical slope" construction technology - which involves "supporting first and then excavating" - has been adopted for the excavation of unit 1's foundation pit. Since 25 November, a total of 137 cast-in-place piles of the foundation pit retaining structure have been completed and negative excavation started on 30 December.

Excavation of about 66,000 cubic metres of earth to form the foundation pit - which will eventually be 12.2 metres deep and cover an area of about 3000 square metres - is expected to be completed by the end of March this year.

Once Bailong units 1 and 2 are put into operation, the annual power generation of the plant will be about 20 billion kilowatt-hours, Guangxi Nuclear Power said. It noted that this can reduce the consumption of standard coal by about 6 million tonnes and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 16 million tonnes annually.

Four CAP1400 reactors are also planned to be built at the site - located about 24 kilometres from the border with Vietnam and about 30 kilometres southwest of China General Nuclear's Fangchenggang nuclear power plant - in later phases.