(Yicai) Dec. 16 -- China became the world’s largest producer of nuclear energy this year, according to the newly appointed party secretary of the National Energy Administration.

China will have 102 reactors working, approved, or under construction by the end of this year, with a total installed capacity of 113 million kilowatts, Wang Hongzhi said at the national energy work conference yesterday.

Wang was appointed party secretary of the energy regulator on Dec. 13 to replace oil industry veteran Zhang Jianhua, who retired after a six-year tenure, according to a statement posted on the website of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

China will approve a number of coastal nuclear power projects next year, aiming to achieve a total operational atomic energy capacity of 65 million kW by the end of 2025, according to Wang.

The country’s nuclear power sector will experience a ‘golden era’ over the next few years, industry insiders told Yicai. With its clean and stable attributes, nuclear energy will have an irreplaceable role to play in driving China’s shift toward a green economy and society, they added.

Over the past two decades, China has rapidly expanded its nuclear energy infrastructure, reflecting its commitment to cutting reliance on coal and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060. The government has approved 10 nuclear reactors in each of the last three years, with the total investment in each million-kW unit exceeding CNY20 billion (USD2.8 billion).

In terms of energy conservation and emissions reduction, million-kW reactors can cut coal use by three million tons a year, save on fuel transport costs, lower carbon dioxide emissions by six million tons, and cut sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide emissions by 26,000 tons.

The NEA also disclosed other data yesterday. China’s self-sufficiency in energy will remain above 80 percent, its installed power generation capacity will exceed 3.3 billion kW, and its electricity generation will jump 5.7 percent to 10 trillion kW this year, the NEA said.

China added more than 300 million kW of renewable energy capacity this year, accounting for over 85 percent of the total new installed capacity, the NEA added.

Editor: Futura Costaglione