(Yicai) July 6 -- China General Nuclear Power, a state-owned atomic and clean energy developer, has launched trial operations of the second Hualong One nuclear power unit in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, about two and a half months after the first one went live.

Unit 2 of the Taipingling nuclear power plant in Huizhou was connected to the grid on July 4, and it has maintained sound operating conditions since then, with all technical indicators meeting design expectations, Yicai learned from CGN. After completing performance tests, the unit is expected to enter formal commercial operation within this year, the company noted.

Once fully operational, Unit 2 is expected to generate over nine billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, meeting the production and daily use power demand of nearly one million residents and further strengthening CGN’s capacity to supply clean energy to the Greater Bay Area, said Zhang Guoqiang, chairman of CGN Huizhou Nuclear Power, the CGN subsidiary responsible for the project. 

CGN broke ground at the Taipingling nuclear power plant in December 2019. With a total investment of over CNY120 billion (USD17.7 billion), the project will have six Hualong One nuclear power units, China's own third-generation nuclear reactor design, with an installed capacity of 1,209 megawatts each.

Upon completion, the nuclear power plant is expected to produce more than 55 billion kWh of electricity a year, cutting standard coal consumption by around 16.65 million tons and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 50.8 million tons annually.

Unit 1 of the Taipingling nuclear power plant launched trial operations in February and was officially connected to the grid and put into commercial service on April 20. The main construction work on Unit 3 kicked off on June 10 last year, aiming to achieve initial grid connection by the end of next year. The first concrete pouring for the nuclear island of Unit 4 was completed on May 10.

CGN’s shares [SHE: 003816] fell 0.3 percent to CNY3.88 (57 US cents) as of lunch break in Shenzhen today.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione