China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) owned a total installed capacity of 100 million kilowatts in clean power in 2023 according to a company statement made on Jan 24.
Throughout the year, CGN generated a total of more than 333.8 billion kilowatt-hours of power, an increase of 23.4 billion kW over that of 2022. The clean energy output in 2023 is equivalent of that produced by burning more than 100 million metric tons of standard coal and a reduction of more than 260 million tons of carbon dioxide.
As a main force supporting China’s clean energy development, CGN has been devoted to clean energy development based on nuclear, wind and photovoltaic power and power storage.
According to the company, it now has 27 nuclear power generator units in safe and stable operation. Four nuclear power generator units of the Ningde and Taipingling projects obtained approval in 2023. There are 11 nuclear power generator units under construction, all of which adopt Hualong One, China’s third-generation nuclear power technology with Chinese proprietary intellectual property rights.
The Daya Bay nuclear power plant has operated safely and stably for the 30 years since 1994. It was the first commercial nuclear power plant in the Chinese mainland. By the end of 2023, the base with six generator units exported 939.1 billion kWh of power, with more than 310.4 billion being sent to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, providing clean power to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
2023 was the first year that CGN’s Yangjiang nuclear power base in South China’s Guangdong Province generated more than 50 billion kWh of power.
A bird’s-eye view of CGN’s Yangjiang nuclear power base in South China’s Guangdong Province [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
As of Jan 24, 2024, the No 1 generator unit of the Lingao nuclear power plant had continuously and stably run for 6,301 days, the longest operational time for any plant of its kind in the world.
On March 25, 2023, the No 3 generator unit of the Fangchenggang nuclear power plant in South China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region was put into operation. It is the first Hualong One nuclear power generator unit in West China.
A view of the No 3 generator unit of the Fangchenggang nuclear power plant in South China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
It's worth noting that the Firmsys platform, independently developed by CGN, is China's first nuclear digital instrument control platform. It was applied for the first time to the Hualong One generator unit, bringing about verified integration of third-generation nuclear power technology and advanced nuclear power instrument control equipment.
Workers operate the Firmsys nuclear level digital instrument control system. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
So far, the system has been used on 23 domestic nuclear power generator units.
At present, CGN has 11 Hualong One nuclear power generator units under construction in Guangdong, Zhejiang and Fujian provinces and Guangxi.
The No 1 generator unit at the Taipingling nuclear power plant in Guangdong has completed cold function tests. Construction of the No 6 generator unit of the Lufeng nuclear power plant in Guangdong started in August 2023 and the No 2 generator unit of the Sanao nuclear power plant in Zhejiang completed dome hoisting in September 2023.
CGN’s new energy installed capacity in operation has exceeded 45 million kW. In 2023, the company’s newly-operated new energy installed capacity exceeded 10 million kW; and the company exported more than 73 billion kWh of power, up 22 percent year-on-year.
A view of the 1 million-kW offshore wind power project in Huizhou, Guangdong [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
The company was in full swing in promoting major new energy projects in 2023. for example, the 3 million-kilowatt Hinggan League wind power project in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the largest functioning onshore wind power base in China, and the 1-million-kilowatt offshore wind farm at Huizhou Port in Guangzhou, the first 1-million-kW offshore wind farm in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, started operation. Construction of the 400-megawatt Zhaoyuan offshore photovoltaic power project in Yantai, East China’s Shandong Province, was also started. It is expected to be China’s first large-scale offshore PV project in coastal waters fixed with a pile foundation.
Under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, CGN also plays a role in providing clean power in 15 countries and regions such as Malaysia, France, Brazil and South Korea.
According to CGN Energy International Holdings Co., Limited, CGN had 13.63 million kW of installed capacity overseas in 2023, and exported nearly 46.28 billion kWh of power.
The 180-MW TN wind power project in Brazil went into operation in 2023, offering clean power for 320,000 local households. The project also brought a China-developed wind turbine industrial chain into the Brazilian new energy market, promoting export of products of 24 of the chain’s enterprises.
A view of CGN’s 180-MW TN wind power project in Brazil [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
(Executive editor: Xie Yunxiao)
