Unit 4 of China’s Hongyanhe NPP in Liaoning province has completed all commissioning tests and is ready for commercial operation, China General Nuclear Power Company (CGN) said on 20 September. In a statement made available by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, CGN said a number of certificates for Hongyanhe-4, such as the electric power business permit, still need to be obtained before the official start of commercial operation. Construction of Hongyanhe-4, a Generation-II CPR-1000 pressurised water reactor, began in August 2009. The unit was connected to the grid in April 2016. There are three units already operating at the Hongyanhe site, with two more under construction.
More than 75% of the facilities for phase I (units 1-4) were domestically produced, said Liao Weiming, general manager of Liaoning Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Co Ltd., which runs the plant. Unit 1 features the first large reactor pressure vessel designed and produced in China, he said, adding that some core equipment such as the steam generator and turbo generator were all produced domestically. Construction on phase I began in 2007 and construction of phase II, which began in 2015, is expected to be completed in 2021.