Aerial photo taken on Aug 31, 2020 shows a panoramic view of Fuqing project in the city of Fuqing, southeast China's Fujian Province. Fuel loading started Friday at China's first nuclear power unit using Hualong One technology, a domestically developed third-generation reactor design, bringing the unit one step closer to operation. Photo: Xinhua

Construction is in progress on 24 nuclear power units in China, with a total installed capacity of about 26.81 million kilowatts (kW), ranking the first in the world, an industry report showed on Wednesday.

Since 2022, China has approved 10 new nuclear power units, put three new commercial units into operation and started construction on six new units, read a report titled China Nuclear Energy Development Report 2023 released by the China Nuclear Energy Association (CNEA).

China now has 54 commercial nuclear power units with a total installed capacity of 56.82 million kW, ranking third in the world, the report said, noting that China's nuclear power units have maintained safe and stable operation for a long time, and the construction of new units has steadily advanced.

In 2022, China's nuclear power units generated 417.78 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity, up 2.5 percent year-on-year, accounting for about 4.7 percent of the country's total electricity generation.

Nuclear power generation in China ranks second in the world, the report revealed.

Compared with coal-fired power stations, China's nuclear power generation in 2022 was equivalent to reducing the burning of standard coal by nearly 120 million tons and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 310 million tons, it noted.

The safety performance of China's nuclear power is also at an advanced level globally, the report showed.

Last year, 37 units in China scored full marks on the World Nuclear Power Operators Association's comprehensive index, accounting for 50 percent of the full score units in the world, Zhang Tingke, secretary-general of the CNEA, said in an interview with the China Media Group.

The report also showed that China's independent innovation capacity in the field of nuclear power has been significantly enhanced. 

Construction work started on the first nuclear power station this year on March 22 in Sanmen County, East China's Zhejiang Province. The annual power generation of the Sanmen No.4 unit is expected to reach 10 billion kWh, according to domestic news site chinanews.com.

The Sanmen No.4 unit was primarily designed and manufactured by domestic institutions, and domestic companies will build and operate it independently, with a localization rate of nearly 70 percent, chinanews.com reported.

Global Times