Montenegro on Monday broke ground on a 237.47-million-euro (about 265 million U.S. dollars) bypass around the coastal city of Budva, a major tourism destination that faces heavy traffic congestion during the summer season.
The approximately 8-km bypass is designed to divert transit traffic away from the city center and improve transport conditions in the wider coastal area.
The project includes around four km of tunnels and two km of bridges, with engineering structures accounting for around 70 percent of the route. Construction is expected to take four years.
The project will be carried out by an international consortium comprising five companies from Montenegro, China and Bosnia and Herzegovina, including China's Shandong Hi-Speed Group.
Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajic, Chinese Ambassador to Montenegro Chen Xufeng and other officials attended the groundbreaking ceremony in Budva.
According to Monteput, Montenegro's state-owned highway company and the project investor, the bypass will connect the Budva-Cetinje road near Markovici with the Budva-Tivat road near Lastva Grbaljska.
The project is part of Montenegro's broader plan to develop an integrated network of highways and expressways.
Montenegro breaks ground on 237-mln-euro Budva bypass
Unit 7 of the Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant in east China's Jiangsu Province achieved its first grid connection on Thursday, according to the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC).
Located in the coastal city of Lianyungang, the Unit 7 adopts third-generation nuclear power technology. With a designed service life of 60 years, it is expected to generate nearly 10 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year.
Zhang Yi, chairman of the CNNC's Jiangsu Nuclear Power Corporation, said the Unit 7 is expected to enter commercial operation within this year.
"Once all units are put into operation, the total installed capacity of the Tianwan base will exceed 9 million kilowatts, with an annual power output of more than 70 billion kilowatt-hours, cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 57.4 million tons every year," Zhang said.
The Tianwan nuclear power base is planned to house eight million-kilowatt-class nuclear power units. Units 1 through 6 are already in commercial operation, having delivered a cumulative total of more than 500 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity to the grid.
The under-construction Unit 8 is scheduled to begin commercial operation in 2027.
China's Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant Unit 7 achieves grid connection
China's Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant Unit 7 achieves grid connection
