(Yicai) Oct. 9 -- China’s State Power Investment Corporation, the world's largest renewable energy producer, said construction work on the first reactor unit at the Lianjiang Nuclear Power Plant began at the end of last month.

The Lianjiang project, SPIC's first in the coastal area of Guangdong province, is designed to have six reactors with an investment of about CNY20 billion (USD2.7 billion) per unit, the state-owned firm said on Oct. 7. It has a total estimated installed capacity of 8,620 megawatts and will generate around 70.2 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, SPIC added.

China has pushed the construction of atomic power plants in recent years to save energy and reduce carbon emissions, with the reactor at Lianjiang the third unit to start being built this year. The State Council, China’s cabinet, gave the go-ahead for work to start on a further six reactor units at three other projects at the end of July.

The Lianjiang project will cut around 20.1 million tons of standard coal consumption annually and lower carbon dioxide emissions by about 52.6 million tons, SPIC pointed out. It will also slash about 171,000 tons of sulfur dioxide and around 149,000 tons of nitric oxide emissions, with the effect equivalent to planting about 148,000 hectares of broad-leaved forest, it added.

At Lianjiang, two nuclear power reactor units with a service life of 60 years and a capacity of 1,250 MW each will be built in the first phase, SPIC noted. They will use CAP1000 third-generation passive pressurized water technology and are scheduled to become operational in 2028.

The CAP Generation III nuclear power reactor was developed by Beijing-based SPIC based on Westinghouse Electric's AP1000, a third-generation nuclear power reactor.

The CAP1000 has quickly become one of China's main third-generation nuclear power technologies, along with the ACP 1000, co-developed by China National Nuclear Corporation and China General Nuclear Power Group. Ten units approved by the State Council last year, including the two in Lianjiang’s first phase, will use CAP1000 reactors.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev