China Huaneng has installed the inner containment dome at unit 1 of the Shidaowan NPP in Shandong Province – the first of four HPR1000 (Hualong-1) units planned for the plant.
China’s State Council approved the construction of Phase One (units 1&2) in July 2023 and first concrete for unit 1 was poured in July 2024. Each unit will generate more than 10 TWh of electricity a year, reducing, standard coal consumption by 3.12m tonnes and carbon dioxide emissions by 8.16m tonnes, according to China Huaneng.
Once all four units are completed and operational, the plant will generate 35 GWe a year, enough to meet the annual electricity needs of 17m three-person households. This is equivalent to a reduction of 11.5m tonnes in standard coal consumption and 27.6m tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year.
The Shidaowan site also hosts the world’s first fourth-generation reactor plant, the HTR-PM, a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) concept. The HTR-PM demonstration project involves two small 250 MWe HTGRs that drive a single 210 MWe turbine. The site will ultimately host ten 210 MWe units of this type. Construction began in December 2012 and unit 1 achieved criticality in September 2021 followed by unit 2 two months later. Unit 1 was connected to the grid in December 2021 and both units achieved full power in December 2022. The project began commercial operation in December 2023.
In addition, the Guohe One nuclear power demonstration project is also located at the Shidaowan site comprising two 1500 MWe CAP1400 pressurised water reactors, a design based on the Westinghouse AP1000. Unit 1 of the Guohe One project was connected to the grid in November 2024.
The project is owned by a consortium led by China Huaneng (47.5%) with China National Nuclear Corporation’s subsidiary China Nuclear Engineering Corporation (32.5%) and the Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technologies (INET) of Tsinghua University (20%), which is the head of research and developments.
