BEIJING - Shanghai
Electric Group (SEG) signed a contract August 7
with Qinshan Nuclear Power Station to supply
equipment valued at 900 million yuan (US$111
million) for the latter's second-phase expansion
project.
The project involves the
installation of two 650-megawatt nuclear power
generating units which are expected to entail 15
billion yuan in investment, said Li Yongjiang,
chairman of Nuclear Power Qinshan Joint Venture Co
Ltd. The equipment SEG will provide includes
conventional island electric generators, nuclear
island steam generators, reactor core internals
and control rod drive mechanism.
"This is
China's first effort to design and manufacture
650-MW nuclear power generating units using its
own technology," said
SEG
chairman Wang Chengming. Equipment will be
delivered to the station in 2008 and the expansion
project will be completed in 2010.
Qinshan, located in east China's Zhejiang
province, put two 600-MW nuclear power generating
units into operation in 2004 as part of its second
phase with an investment of 14.2 billion yuan.
"The units are running smoothly and efficiently,"
said Li. The two new 650-MW units aim to solve
power shortages in East China, Wang said.
China started building nuclear power
stations in 1985 with the launch of a project in
Zhejiang's Qinshan Town. It had a 300-MW unit in
its first phase, with an investment of 1.7 billion
yuan. In the third phase, two 700-MW units costing
about $2.9 billion were installed using Canadian
technology. The project was completed in 2003.
Qinshan Nuclear Power Station now has a capacity
of 2,900-MW generating units, making it a major
nuclear power base in China.
According to
Wang Shoujun, deputy general manager of China
Nuclear Industry Group Company, China is actively
working toward the development of the nuclear
power industry. "More nuclear power stations will
be built by 2020," Wang said. Currently,
electricity generated by coal accounts for 74% of
the total power; hydropower, 24%; and nuclear
power, 1.6%.
China is expected to increase
the capacity of its nuclear power generation from
the current 8,700 MW to 40,000 MW in 2020, he
said. "But even then, it will only meet 4% of the
country's power needs," said Wang Wenda, a senior
engineer in the Nuclear Power Office of SEG's
Power Generation Group. The proportion is far
behind France's 78% and Japan's 35%, he said,
adding that to reach the 4% target, China plans to
set up more than 30 1,000-MW units by 2020. "China
plans to import third-generation nuclear power
technology to step up its power industry," Wang
Wenda said.
