Taipingling 1 connected to the grid

Taipingling 1 received an operating licence from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment on 24 December last year. The loading of the first fuel assemblies began at the unit later that day following approval from the National Nuclear Safety Administration. A total of 177 fuel assemblies were loaded into the reactor's core. It attained a sustained chain reaction for the first time (referred to as first criticality) on 3 February.

China General Nuclear (CGN) has now announced that the reactor was "successfully connected to the grid and generated its first kilowatt-hour of electricity" on 13 February.

The 1116 MWe (net) pressurised water reactor will enter commercial operation once it has completed a series of commissioning tests, including a test run lasting 168 hours. This is planned for the first half of 2026, CGN said.

"The grid connection of Taipingling nuclear power plant unit 1 is not only an important achievement in China's independent development of nuclear power, but also fills the gap in the independent operation of third-generation nuclear power in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area," the company said. "With the rapid development of industries such as artificial intelligence and computing power, the energy demand in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area continues to grow, making energy structure optimisation an urgent priority.

"It is estimated that after unit 1 is put into operation, it can provide approximately 8.1 billion kilowatt-hours of clean energy electricity to the Greater Bay Area annually, equivalent to reducing standard coal consumption by approximately 2.45 million tonnes and carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 7.48 million tonnes, providing strong support for the clean energy supply and energy structure optimisation of the Greater Bay Area."

The Taipingling plant will eventually have six Hualong One reactors, with a total investment exceeding CNY120 billion (USD17 billion). The construction of the first and second units began in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Hot testing of unit 1 was completed in September 2024, with that of unit 2 completed in July 2025.

Construction of the second phase of the Taipingling plant - units 3 and 4 - was approved by China's State Council in December 2023, with construction of unit 3 getting under way in June last year.