Qinshan Nuclear Power Station in East China's Zhejiang Province Photo: CFP

The first nuclear heating project in Southeast China was put into operation on Friday, the initial phase of which could provide winter heating for 464,000 square meters of residential property in Haiyan county, East China's Zhejiang Province.

Built upon residual thermal power from the province's Qinshan Nuclear Power Station, the facility provides heating for households in an eco-friendly way without carbon dioxide emissions.

The project is expected to support heating for more than 4 million square meters of residential area when it is fully operational. It is expected to save 196 million kilowatt-hours of electricity or 24,600 tons of standard coal a year, slashing 59,000 tons of carbon dioxide each year.

Nuclear heating is not only clean, but also very safe. Nuclear energy heating  extracts steam from the nuclear power plant and heats an area several times through a heat exchange station,compared with traditional fuels like coal and natural gas.

China has ramped up efforts to promote clean energy when it comes to residential heating.

The urban area of Haiyang, East China's Shandong Province, began in November using heat generated by a nuclear power plant this winter, making it the first Chinese city to offer carbon-free heating. The project is able to provide clean energy to more than 200,000 households in Haiyang.

Between January to October, China's nuclear power generation stood at 336.62 billion kilowatt hours, up 12.7 percent compared with the same period last year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

Global Times