State-backed China National Nuclear Power (CNNP) has kicked off construction of the nation’s largest offshore solar farm, as part of efforts to boost low-carbon energy supply and decarbonise the economy.
“Upon completion, it will cross couple with the nuclear power station, forming a 10GW large-scale clean-energy production base,” the utility said in a filing to the Shanghai exchange on Monday, adding the solar farm will generate 2.23 billion kilowatt-hours of power during its 25-year lifespan.
The solar farm will include a 0.4GW energy-storage facility. Together, the project will cost 9.88 billion yuan (US$1.4 billion). Its solar panels will cover 18.8 square kilometres, slightly larger than Hong Kong’s Tseung Kwan O district.
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China’s first hybrid photovoltaic plant generates power day and night using solar and tidal power
China’s first hybrid photovoltaic plant generates power day and night using solar and tidal power
CNNP, a unit of state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation, one of the nation’s largest nuclear power plant developers and operators, has a 90 per cent stake in the project.
CNNP operates 25 nuclear power generating units with a total generating capacity of 23.8GW as of last year. Another 15 units totalling 17.6GW are under construction.
It also owns 18.5GW of clean power capacity, primarily wind and solar farms. Last year alone it added 6GW of capacity through such projects.
In terms of generation volume, nuclear accounted for 89 per cent of its total output in 2023, with the rest coming from other sources. CNNP posted a net profit of 10.6 billion yuan last year, an increase of 15 per cent from 2022.
Nuclear accounted for 4.8 per cent of China’s total power generation last year, wind 8.8 per cent and solar 4.9 per cent, while 58.4 per cent came from coal-fired plants, according to China Electricity Council.
Nuclear and renewable energy can complement each other, according to commodities analysts at Global X ETFs, a unit of South Korea’s Mirae Asset Financial Group.
“Nuclear-renewable hybrid energy systems may be able to harness the benefits of each technology into one sustainable and dependable energy source,” Roberta Caelli and Rohan Reddy said in a report in January.
Typically operating at around 90 per cent of capacity, steady production at nuclear power plants can help offset intermittent output at solar farms whose average capacity utilisation is 29 per cent, they noted, citing data from US Energy Information Administration.
Meanwhile, the average cost of lifetime energy generation of solar farms, at US$33.80 per megawatt-hour, is much lower than US$81.70 of advanced nuclear plants.
By co-developing the two forms of clean energy, and potentially combining power generation with district heating or cooling supply, seawater desalination and green hydrogen production, project developers can achieve both energy supply security and cost competitiveness, the analysts said.