The Haiyang nuclear power plant in Haiyang City, eastern China's Shandong Province, has successfully lifted into place all large modules for its Unit 3, marking a key milestone in the construction of the project.
The announcement was made on Monday by State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC), signaling that the unit has now fully entered the installation and commissioning phase.
The installed module is a cylindrical structure and was positioned atop the reactor building's nuclear island. Weighing about 419 tons, the precision lift was a critical step in the construction process.
Units 3 and 4 of the plant are being built simultaneously using domestically developed, independently designed nuclear technology.
The plant's Units 1 and 2 facilities began operating in October 2018 and January 2019, respectively.
Once all four units become operational by 2027, the plant will generate up to 40 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, enough to meet the power needs of half of Shandong's population.
Construction of Units 5 and 6 of the plant received official approval in April this year. When all six units are complete, the Haiyang nuclear power plant will deliver significant carbon reduction benefits and become a major source of clean heating.
"Once all the six units of the nuclear plant are fully operational, the annual power generated will be sufficient to meet the needs of 70 million residents for a year. The carbon reduction achieved will be equivalent to planting 134,000 hectares of broadleaf forest, and the heating capacity will meet the clean heating needs of 25 county-level cities," said Nan Xiaofei, a manager of the Haiyang nuclear power project with the Shandong Nuclear Power Company, a subsidiary of the SPIC.
Haiyang nuclear power plant completes major work for its new construction in Shandong
Europe is facing mounting economic pressure as tensions in the Middle East escalate, causing significant fluctuations in global energy markets, a European energy expert has said.
The region's heavy reliance on energy imports has left it vulnerable to soaring oil and gas prices, raising concerns over inflation and economic stability, said Simone Tagliapietra, a senior fellow at Bruegel, a Brussels-based think tank devoted to policy research on economic issues.
"This is putting very tough pressure on the European gas markets. Also, we see rising cost of the gasoline at the pump. So, higher energy costs, which will again have huge impact on the European citizens and which risk to ignite an inflation spiral where all prices rise as a consequence of the rising energy prices," said Tagliapietra, who specializes in EU climate, energy and industrial policy.
Despite Europe's substantial imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States, the expert cautioned, U.S. supply remains unstable, which further complicates Europe's energy security outlook.
"Given the volatility in the decisions of the Trump administration and given the trade war that the Trump administration has started against all other countries including the European Union in the past year, we are also very much attentive at any possible attempt by the U.S. administration to limit the exports of this LNG. We do not see this as an imminent risk, but this is something that Europe certainly needs to watch out with great degree of care in the coming months and weeks," he said.
Tagliapietra agrees that Europe must accelerate its energy transition to reduce dependency on single import sources and fossil fuels.
"There is nothing that Europe can do to decouple itself from this vulnerability of fossil fuel dependency, then accelerating the deployment of solar and wind energy sources in Europe. And we need to continue to do a lot of efforts amid this new energy crisis," said Tagliapietra.
Rising tensions in Middle East trigger energy market volatility in Europe: expert
