Commercial operation on schedule for first half of year
The Taipingling-1 nuclear power plant in China’s southern province of Guangdong has produced its first electricity after being connected to the grid on 13 February, local reports said.
According to the official China National Nuclear Power News Network (CNNPN), commercial operation of the 1,116-MW domestic Hualong One pressurised water reactor (PWR) unit is on schedule for the first half of 2026.
The reactor unit will now begin a series of testing at various power levels as staff prepare for commissioning, CNNPN said.
Earlier reports said Taipingling-1 received an operation licence in December 2025. The unit achieved first criticality on 3 February 2026.
The Hualong One, also known as the HPR1000, is a domestically developed PWR that combines features from China National Nuclear Corporation’s ACP1000 and China General Nuclear’s ACPR1000+ designs.
CNNPN said Taipingling-1 is the first domestic Hualong One reactor unit to begin operation in the greater Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao bay area of southern China.
The International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) database of nuclear plants in China says China has 58 plants in commercial operation and 33 under construction.
However, construction has begun of another three units that are not listed by the IAEA, bringing the number to 36. About half of those are domestic Hualong One units.
Owner China General Nuclear previously said there will be six domestic Hualong One PWR units at the Taipingling site. Units 1 and 3 have been under construction since December 2019 and June 2025.
China is aiming for 200 GW of nuclear capacity by 2035, up from around 57 GW today. Nuclear is expected to contribute about 10% of power generation in the country by 2035 – up from around 4.5 today – and 18% by 2060, with a total generation capacity of 400 GW by 2060, the China Nuclear Energy Association has said.
