First concrete has been poured for the nuclear island of unit 1 at Phase I of China’s Xuwei nuclear power project in in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, not far from the Tianwan PP. The plant will couple a 660 MWe high-temperature gas-cooled reactor HTGR) with two 1,208 MWe Hualong One pressurised water reactors (PWRs) to supply industrial heating and electricity. The project will also be equipped with a steam heat exchange station. China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) says the project is the “world’s first dual-coupling demonstration project combining a third-generation nuclear PWR and a fourth-generation nuclear HTGR”.
The project is designed primarily for industrial heat supply while also providing electricity. It is the world’s first large-scale project coupling nuclear energy with the petrochemical industry into its main construction phase. At the plant demineralised water will be heated by the primary steam of the Hualong One units to produce saturated steam. The primary steam of the HTGR will then be used to heat the saturated steam for the second time.
Xuwei Phase I was one of 11 reactor projects approved by China’s State Council in August 2024. A CNY4.2bn ($594m) contract for the construction of the conventional islands of all three units was awarded in September 2025 year to a consortium comprising China Energy Engineering Jiangsu Electric Power Construction No 3 Company and China National Nuclear Huachen Construction Engineering Company. Jiangsu Electric Power Construction No 3 Company will build the three conventional island power plants, their ancillary facilities, and the construction and installation of some ‘balance of plant’ components. CNNC Suneng Nuclear Power Company, is owner of the Xuwei project and responsible for project investment, construction and operation management.
Once completed the project will supply 32.5m tonnes of industrial steam annually, with a maximum power generation of more than 11.5 TWh. This is expected to reduce the use of standard coal by 7.26m tonnes and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 19.6m tonnes a year.
Bai Wei, chief design engineer of the Xuwei project at China Nuclear Power Engineering, told Global Times that coupling design supported by digital simulation is one of the project’s key technical challenges. Full use of digital technologies has helped support the coordinated control logic design for the integrated system.
By leveraging the resources of design institutes and universities, the project team has carried out hierarchical and specialised digital simulation for control system design, progressing from simple to complex scenarios and achieving multi-dimensional coupling, Bai said.
Li Quan, project manager of China Nuclear Industry Huaxing Construction Co Ltd, who is in charge of civil construction of the Xuwei project, explained that advanced technologies such as laser intelligent tracking Metal Active Gas Automatic Welding are being deployed. This improves efficiency by at least three times compared with traditional manual shielded metal arc welding.
According to the CNNC, the project marks the beginning of China’s transition in nuclear energy from a power-generation-focused model to diversified energy supply. It opens a new chapter in providing a replicable and scalable “Chinese solution” for the low-carbon transformation of high-energy-consuming industries worldwide, injecting strong momentum into the realisation of global carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals.
