China’s amped-up nuclear power ambitions at core of energy security amid safety concerns
Now the world’s biggest market for nuclear power, China has more than 100 reactors in use or being built along the nation’s coastline
China is leading the world in nuclear power installations and projects under construction as Beijing amps up investment efforts to decarbonise its energy mix.
The country – the world’s largest producer of greenhouse gases, accounting for more than a third of global emissions – will kick off construction of more nuclear plant projects in coastal regions in 2025, with more in the state-planning pipeline.
National Energy Administration director Wang Hongzhi said at a national energy work conference on Sunday that more nuclear projects would be launched next year, with an eye on safety.
With a combined installed capacity of 113 million kilowatts, China currently has 102 reactors, either in use or being built, that dot the country’s coastline, with economic powerhouses Guangdong, Jiangsu and Fujian boasting the biggest clusters.
In comparison, the United States had 93 operating commercial reactors at 54 nuclear power plants in 28 states as of August 2023, with total net summer electricity generation capacity standing at 94.7 million kW in 2022, according to US Energy Information Administration data.
In one of China’s biggest pushes for its nuclear industry in years, the State Council, China’s cabinet, in August greenlit 11 new reactors at five projects worth more than 200 billion yuan (US$27.5 billion).
The nuclear investment boom will last for a decade or longer
In the same month, China published new green-transition guidelines aimed at revving up decarbonisation, with a focus on more nuclear power plants and wind and solar farms in the northwest.
China has been seeking to champion global actions to tackle climate change, setting itself a goal of peaking carbon dioxide emissions before 2030.
Specifically, it aims to raise the share of non-fossil consumption to 25 per cent by then to wean its energy use off coal and ultimately achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.