(Economic Watch) State Council Executive Meeting Releases Important Signals China's Nuclear Power Ushers in New Opportunities
China News Service, Beijing, September 15 (Liu Wenwen) At present, the global energy crisis is severe and extreme weather occurs frequently. Countries around the world are striving to find safe, reliable and low-carbon energy.
Nuclear power is back on the radar.
In order to strengthen the guarantee of energy supply, China is taking precautions to promote the construction of nuclear power projects.
The executive meeting of the State Council held a few days ago clearly approved two nuclear power projects, and China's nuclear power industry ushered in new opportunities.
Approval pace exceeded expectations
China officially accelerated the deployment of nuclear power construction.
The executive meeting of the State Council proposed that in order to improve energy security capabilities and promote green development, the meeting decided to approve the second phase of Fujian Zhangzhou and Guangdong Lianjiang Phase I nuclear power projects that have been included in the plan and have mature conditions.
Guotai Junan Securities analyst Yu Hongguang said that this approval is the second approval this year after the approval of 6 nuclear power units in April 2022, and the approval time and pace exceeded expectations.
During the year, 10 units have been approved, which is a new high for the year after 2008.
The Blue Book of China Nuclear Energy Development Report (2022) recently released by China Nuclear Energy Industry Association shows that since 2021, 5 new commercial nuclear power units have been put into operation and 9 nuclear power units have been newly started, of which the third-generation nuclear power "Hualong No. 1" has entered the batch. the construction stage.
Up to now, China has 53 nuclear power units in commercial operation with a total installed capacity of 55.6 million kilowatts, and 23 nuclear power units under construction with a total installed capacity of 24.19 million kilowatts.
With the continuous expansion of the installed scale of nuclear power, the power generation has also grown rapidly.
Zhang Tingke, secretary-general of the China Nuclear Energy Industry Association, pointed out that nuclear power generation accounts for about 5% of China's current power structure, a significant increase from about 2% a decade ago.
The most reliable, lower carbon and safer
Nuclear power has long been favored for its clean and efficient properties.
On the one hand, nuclear power, like solar power and wind power, does not generate greenhouse gases during operation, and the carbon emissions of nuclear power are even lower than other clean energy sources.
Liu Jiani, a researcher at China International Capital Corporation, said that nuclear power, as a low-carbon and efficient large-scale baseload power source, has high utilization hours, low cost per kilowatt-hour, and does not emit sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide and soot particulate matter.
On the other hand, nuclear power is more resistant to extreme weather disasters and can be used as an all-weather, zero-carbon baseload power source compared to renewable energy sources that rely on variable climatic conditions to power their panels and turbines.
Depending on the season and the weather, solar and wind power won't produce much energy many times, but nuclear power circumvents this problem almost perfectly.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), nuclear power can operate at full capacity 93.5 percent of the time, making it the most reliable source of energy to date.
Since the Chernobyl accident and the Fukushima nuclear power plant crisis, many people have talked about "nuclear" discoloration.
Indeed, safety is the lifeblood of nuclear power.
The State Council executive meeting also emphasized that the supervision of the whole process should be strengthened to ensure the safety of construction and operation.
In fact, as far as China is concerned, nuclear power plants have maintained safe and stable operation for a long time.
The "Hualong No. 1" independently developed by China adopts the third-generation nuclear power technology, which meets the highest safety requirements for nuclear power plants in the world.
It is reported that China has made positive progress in the fourth-generation advanced nuclear power technology. The first nuclear power plant using this technology, the Shandong Shidaowan High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor Nuclear Power Plant Demonstration Project, has once again made a breakthrough in safety and is known as the world's largest nuclear power plant. The first "Nuclear Reactor That Won't Meltdown".
The blue book "China Nuclear Energy Development Report (2022)" also shows that China's nuclear power safety operation performance has maintained an international advanced level.
In 2021, 34 units in China will achieve full marks in the composite index of the World Association of Nuclear Power Operators, accounting for 44% of the world's full-scale units.
China's nuclear power ushered in the take-off moment?
As a stable and reliable clean and low-carbon energy, nuclear energy is an important option for China's energy transition to clean and low-carbon energy.
Zhang Tingke pointed out that in order to meet the requirements of clean and low-carbon development, it is estimated that by 2030, the proportion of nuclear power generation in China's power structure needs to reach about 10%; by 2060, the proportion of nuclear power generation in China's power structure needs to be It reaches about 20%, which is comparable to the current average level of developed countries.
Yu Hongguang said that as a power source with clean, low-carbon and controllable output, nuclear power can better match the base load demand and improve the stability of the new power system.
During the peak summer season this year, Sichuan and other places have arranged for orderly use of electricity, and nuclear power and other stable and controllable power sources have received attention.
He Zhaohui, chief analyst of the power equipment and new energy industry of Guolian Securities, added that nuclear power has become an important starting point for promoting new infrastructure due to its huge stimulating effect on investment.
The estimated investment of a single nuclear power unit is about 20 billion yuan (RMB, the same below), and the approval of 10 units within this year can drive an investment scale of 200 billion yuan in the industrial chain.
In He Zhaohui's view, "both in terms of investment-driven effect and long-term energy supply guarantee, it is extremely necessary to increase investment in nuclear power."
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