Chinese Nuclear Giants CNNC, CGN Raise Annual Investment Budgets; Listed Units’ Shares Jump(Yicai) March 21 -- China National Nuclear Corporation and China General Nuclear Power Group, two major Chinese atomic energy developers, said they have increased their investment budgets for this year, leading to a jump in the shares of some of their units.
China National Nuclear Power will have an investment pot of CNY121.6 billion (USD16.9 billion) in 2024, a 52 percent increase on last year, the CNNC unit announced yesterday. The funds will be used for nuclear power plant construction, nuclear energy applications, and other new energy investments, it added.
CNNP's shares [SHA: 601985] ended up 0.6 percent at CNY8.67 (USD1.20) apiece in Shanghai today. CNNC-owned Sufa Technology Industry [SHE: 000777], a manufacturer of valves used in the nuclear power industry, jumped 5.2 percent to CNY16.68 (USD2.32) in Shenzhen.
As the world's largest nuclear power generation firm, CNNP's investment budget has risen every year for four years, climbing by over 50 percent in the recent two years, according to a research report by Everbright Securities. This reflects the faster development of nuclear power in China and the position of nuclear in the nation’s clean energy mix, the report said.
China General Nuclear Power also released a plan at its industrial development conference yesterday to double new energy, aiming to maintain annual investment of about CNY60 billion in the area. The plan also aims to achieve an annual increase in newly commissioned capacity of over 10 million kilowatts, increasing the total output of industry chain firms by about CNY180 billion.
Shares of CGN Nuclear Technology Development [SHE: 000881], an electron accelerator maker under CGN, jumped by their 10 percent daily trading limit to close at CNY7.10 apiece.
China’s approval process for building nuclear power plants has speeded up in recent years. Ten reactor units were approved in 2022 and 2023, respectively, with 26 under construction as of the end of last year, the most worldwide. Fifty-five are in operation, ranking the country third globally.
Editor: Martin Kadiev
