(Yicai Global) May 13 -- China National Nuclear Power will sign a USD1.7 billion contract with Russia's Atomstroyexport on generating units No. 3 and No. 4 at the Xudabao Nuclear Power Plant soon. The Moscow-based  firm will oversee technology for the plant's design and provide reactor equipment.

The plant is in northeastern China's Liaoning province, and the construction of the two new generating units will start in October 2021 and August 2022, respectively, with a 69-month construction period and 60-year designed service life for each, CNNP announced today, saying the rated thermal power of the project is 3,212 megawatts.

The contract is the second one on important nuclear power projects signed this year between Beijing-based CNNP and ASE, which are both state-backed. The pair penned a USD1.7 billion agreement on generating units No. 7 and No. 8 at the Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant in eastern China's coastal Jiangsu province in January.

CNNP's parent China National Nuclear Corp. and ASE's parent Rosatom signed a framework agreement on the two nuclear power plants on the day before the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit held in June in Qingdao to build four VVER-1200 third-generation nuclear power generating units in China.

China will have 58 million kilowatts installed capacity of nuclear power units in operation and 30 million KW in construction next year, based on government plans. The country has 45.9 million KW installed capacity in operation and 12.2 million KW under construction, per statistics from the National Energy Administration up to January that show almost  30 million KW short of that goal.

Editor: Ben Armour