China National Nuclear to Start Building Hainan Plant Next Year

By Winnie Zhu

Aug. 11 (Bloomberg) -- China National Nuclear Corp., the country's biggest operator of nuclear power plants, will start construction of a 1,300-megawatt station in the southern island province of Hainan by the end of next year.

The plant in Changjiang County will start commercial operations at the end of 2014, China National Nuclear said in a statement posted on the Web site of the Beijing-based State- owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. It gave no further details.

China National Nuclear said last month it had won initial approval from the central government to build the plant. China is turning to less-polluting alternatives to coal, which generates almost 80 percent of the nation's electricity.

The country's nuclear-power capacity will rise to at least 60 gigawatts by the end of the next decade, Wang Yonggan, secretary of the China Electricity Council, said in June.

The Hainan plant will house two pressurized water reactors with a capacity of 650 megawatts each, China National Nuclear said July 25.

Power producers have expanded capacity to end blackouts during periods of peak demand. China is experiencing its sixth year of electricity shortages, prompting rationing in Shandong, Hubei, Shanxi, Henan and Liaoning provinces.

To contact the reporter on this story: Winnie Zhu in Shanghai at wzhu4@bloomberg.net.