China has started construction of the 3rd Unit (1 GW) of the Sanmen nuclear power plant, located in the Zhejiang province (east China), according to China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC). This marks the beginning of Sanmen nuclear plant’s second phase, which will consist in the building of two 1 GW CAP-1000 pressurised water reactors (Units 3 and 4), that was approved by the Chinese State Council in April 2022.
The first phase of the Sanmen plant (Units 1 and 2, 1.15 GW each), was connected to the grid and put into commercial operation in 2018 and has since generated more than 60 TWh. After the completion of phase 2, the Sanmen plant is expected to have a total installed capacity of about 5 GW and generate around 40 TWh/year, which will be equivalent to a reduction in emissions of about 30 MtCO2.
Earlier in June 2022, China started commercial operations of unit 6 (1.1 GW) of the Hongyanhe nuclear power plant in Liaoning. In 2021, China’s nuclear capacity reached 53.3 GW (+7% compared to 2020) and its nuclear power generation reached 408 TWh (+11.3% compared to 2020).