oneman28

http://afr.com/articles/2005/07/14/1120934356500.html

Jul 15
Loretta Ng | Bloomberg | Hong Kong


China, the world's largest energy consumer after the United States, may spend about $US24 billion ($32billion) constructing 18 nuclear reactors in three provinces along its eastern coast to meet increasing power demand.

China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC) plans to build about six 1000-megawatt reactors each in Fujian, Shandong and Liaoning, said Yu Jianfeng, assistant president of the nation's biggest nuclear power company.

The projects need central government approval and are in addition to 19 either operating, being built or due to start construction, he said.

"This is an ambitious plan," said Steve Kidd, director of strategy and research at the London-based World Nuclear Association. "The pace of the program shows that local governments are pushing for this. We hope the central government can keep up with the technical expertise and regulatory aspects."

China, which relies on coal and oil for 90 per cent of its energy needs, wants to increase the use of cleaner-burning alternatives such as nuclear power to cut pollution and its reliance on oil imports. The nation needs to add at least two reactors a year to meet a target of generating 4 per cent of power from nuclear plants by 2020 compared with about 2.3 per cent now.


advertisement

advertisement

The latest plans for reactors have completed the early stages of preparation and may secure approval from the central government as early as next year, Mr Yu said in an interview in Hong Kong yesterday.

"We welcome more foreign investors and other domestic power companies to team up with us, and to take stakes in our new- generation project," he said.

"We used to own the whole or majority of our nuclear power plants in the past, but we hope to gradually phase out our control."

The cost of developing a nuclear reactor has dropped as China develops its own technology. CNNC is spending $US1330 on each kilowatt of reactor capacity it is adding at the Qinshan power plant. That's the lowest cost the country has achieved using domestic expertise, Mr Yu said.

China Power Investment, the Beijing-based parent company of Hong Kong-listed China Power International Development., plans to acquire stake in the Shandong and Liaoning projects, Mr Yu said.

The country has nine nuclear reactors operating in the south-eastern provinces of Zhejiang and Guangdong. Two reactors are under construction in Jiangsu in the east. Together, these projects have capacity of about 9000 megawatts.

The government last year approved a further eight nuclear reactors in Guangdong and Zhejiang. Four of these will be built by CNNC and its Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding unit, starting early next year.

"We'll be aiming for the lowest cost of construction in all the new nuclear power projects," Mr Yu said.

Construction of the remaining four nuclear reactors approved last year will be contracted out to one of the foreign bidders that submitted tendering proposals by a February 28 deadline.

Mr Yu said he expects to decide within six months between the three bidders - Framatome, a venture between France's Areva and Germany's Siemens; British Nuclear Fuels' Westinghouse Electric; and Russia's AtomStroyExport.

"We've gone through their proposals," Mr Yu said. "But they are still subject to further negotiations. We need to negotiate on some issues including technical levels, technology transfer and pricing. They're quite expensive."