10 Jan (NucNet): Unit 2 of the Haiyang nuclear power station in Shandong province, northeast China, has begun commercial operation, becoming the fourth Westinghouse AP1000 unit in China to reach the milestone.
State Power Investment Corporation said on its website that the unit, construction of which began in June 2010, completed 168 hours of full-power continuous operation at 16:00 local time on 9 January.
SPIC said the unit had met “commercial operation conditions”. Some permits and documentation are still needed, but the plant is now considered to be in commercial operation, SPIC said.
Four Generation III+ AP1000 units have been under construction in China. Sanmen-1 was the first to begin commercial operation on 21 September 2018, followed by Haiyang-1 on 22 October 2018 and Sanmen-2 on 5 November 2018.
Four AP1000 reactors were also being built in the US – two each at the Vogtle and Summer stations. Construction of the two Summer units was suspended in August 2017. The two Vogtle units are scheduled to start operating in November 2021 and November 2022.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, China now has 46 nuclear power units in commercial operation providing about 3.9% of its electricity.
SPIC said the two Haiyang units will provide about 20 TWh of electricity to the grid annually, sufficient to meet one-third of household demand in Shandong province, SPIC noted.
