NE China nuclear power plant fully operational

SHENZHEN -- The Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Station, the first nuclear power plant in Northeast China, became fully operational on Thursday, according to the China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN).

By 9:35 pm on Thursday, after a trial run of 168 hours, the sixth generating unit at the nuclear power plant was ready for commercial operations, CGN said.

The power station in Liaoning province has a total installed capacity of over 6.71 million kilowatts, making it the largest operating nuclear power plant in China at present.

The construction of the Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Station, the largest electric energy investment project in Northeast China, began in August 2007. The first phase saw four generating units put into use in 2016, and the construction of two more generating units for the second phase began in 2015.

The six units can generate 48 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year, accounting for approximately 20 percent of the total electricity consumption in Liaoning Province.

Compared to coal-fired ones, the nuclear power plant could save 14.52 million tonnes of coal consumption and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 39.93 million tonnes a year, which is equivalent to planting 108,000 hectares of trees.