(Yicai) June 19 -- China’s first project to supply steam generated by nuclear power to industry began operations today, with the aim of cutting emissions from a nearby petrochemicals plant.

Heqi No. 1 will generate 4.8 million metric tons of steam a year from the third and fourth reactors at the Tianwan atomic power plant in Jiangsu province, China National Nuclear Corporation, which owns 51 percent of the project, announced today.

China approved the CNY70 billion (USD9.65 billion) initial phase of the project in March. It marks the evolution of the nation’s use of nuclear energy to industrial steam supply from its conventional use in electricity generation and the more recent commercial supply of steam for heating homes.

The steam will be piped to the Lianyungang Petrochemical Industry Base, helping reduce its use of standard coal by 400,000 tons, carbon dioxide emissions by 1.1 million tons, sulfur dioxide emissions by 184 tons, and oxynitride emissions by 263 tons, in addition to saving over 700,000 tons of carbon emission credits annually.

Heqi No. 1 will be the plant’s main clean energy artery and an exemplar in the Chinese petrochemical industry's clean steam supply field, CNNC pointed out.

Total investment in the Lianyungang Petrochemical Industry Base, which is set to become one of the country’s seven biggest such plants when its full capacity comes online in 2030, is expected to be about CNY200 billion (USD27.6 billion).

Editor: Futura Costaglione