Wedoany.com Report-Mar 31, A financing kick-off meeting has been held for the first phase of the Xuwei nuclear power project in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China National Nuclear Corporation announced. The plant will supply both industrial heating and electricity by coupling a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor with two pressurised water reactors.
A rendering of the Xuwei plant
At the 26 March meeting, participants were given a development overview and project status report by CNNC Suneng Nuclear Power Company, the CNNC subsidiary which is the owner of the Xuwei project and responsible for project investment, construction and operation management.
The meeting was attended by representatives of CNNC, CNNC Finance Company, CNNC Jiangsu Energy and Jiangsu Nuclear Power, as well as relevant leaders of banks and financial institutions, including China Development Bank, China Export-Import Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of Communications, China Postal Savings Bank, China Merchants Bank, and China CITIC Bank.
Representatives said they would "further leverage the advantages of financial institutions to unswervingly provide continuous and reliable financing support and high-quality financial services for the Xuwei project", according to CNNC.
Xuwei Phase I was among 11 reactors approved by China's State Council in August last year. CNNC plans to build two 1208 MWe (net) Hualong One units and one 660 MWe high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) unit at the site. The project will be equipped with a steam heat exchange station, which will adopt the heat-to-electricity operation mode for the first time.
At the plant - very close to CNNC's existing Tianwan plant - demineralised water will be heated by the primary steam of the Hualong One units to produce saturated steam, and the primary steam of the HTGR will be used to heat the saturated steam for the second time.
"After completion, it will have both high-quality steam supply and power generation capabilities under the designed operating conditions," CNNC said when the project was approved. "After the project is completed and put into operation, it will supply 32.5 million tonnes of industrial steam annually, with a maximum power generation of more than 11.5 billion kilowatt-hours, which can reduce the use of standard coal by 7.26 million tonnes and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 19.6 million tonnes each year.
CNNC said the project "carries the important mission of transforming the country's energy structure and commercialising the fourth-generation nuclear power technology high-temperature gas-cooled reactor."
In August, CNNC said the project had been included in the national plan and had undergone a comprehensive safety assessment review. "At present, the project site is steadily and orderly advancing various preparatory work before the start of construction," it added.
