The 2.5GW Haiyang nuclear power plant (NPP), located in the Shandong province of China, comprises two Westinghouse GEN-III AP1000 pressurised water reactor (PWR) units commissioned in October 2018 and January 2019, respectively.
It is owned and operated by Shandong Nuclear Power Company, a subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned energy group State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC), which was created through the merger of China Power Investment Corporation (CPI) and State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (SNPTC) in July 2015.
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Westinghouse provided four AP1000 PWRs in China, including two at Haiyang and two more at the Sanmen NPP in Zhejiang province, under an agreement signed with SNPTC in July 2007. The agreement followed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between China and the US to foster co-operation in the field of third-generation nuclear power technologies in December 2006.
Construction of Sanmen-1 and Haiyang-1 started in April and September 2009 respectively, followed by Sanmen-2 and Haiyang-2 in December 2009 and June 2010, respectively. Sanmen-1 was the world’s first AP1000 reactor to enter commercial service in August 2018, followed by the commissioning of Haiyang-1 two months later.
The Haiyang NPP commenced trail district heating operations as part of China’s first commercial nuclear heating demonstration project in November 2019. Following phase two expansion, the nuclear demonstration district heating system called NuanheOne was put into service in November 2021 making Haiyang the first Chinese city to use zero-carbon residential heating provided by nuclear power.
Location and plant make-up
The Haiyang nuclear power station is located on the coast of the Yellow Sea in Haiyang, 130km east of Qingdao, in the eastern Chinese province of Shandong.
It comprises two generation units, each of which has a gross power output of 1,250MW. Each unit consists of a reactor building housing a Westinghouse AP1000 PWR and a steam generator, and a turbine building housing a high-performance steam turbine supplied by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI).
Each steam turbine comprises one high-pressure section and three low-pressure sections of double-flow design. Other equipment in the turbine building include a moisture separator and reheater (MSR), a condenser, a feedwater heater, a deaerator, along with a turbine generator and exciter.
The Haiyang nuclear power generating facility also uses multi-stage heat exchangers in a secondary turbine plant to transfer waste heat for district heating applications.
Haiyang nuclear energy heating project details
A pilot nuclear heating project to provide heat to 700,000m2 of housing near at the Haiyang NPP commenced operations in November 2019.
The power plant officially started providing district heating to the surrounding area in November 2020, whereas the heat supply area was expanded to 5.2 million m2 covering the entire city of Haiyang with the launch of second phase expansion of the nuclear heating project in November 2021.
The waste heat captured from the steam output of Haiyang’s two reactors is sent to an offsite heat exchange station run by Fengyuan Thermal Power, from where it is transferred to residential homes through the municipal heating pipeline network.
The Haiyang nuclear energy heating project is expected to reduce 180,000 tonnes (t) of carbon dioxide, 1,123t of nitrogen oxide, and 1,188t of sulphur dioxide emissions each heating season by replacing as many as 12 local coal-fired boilers.
The Haiyang nuclear district project is planned for further expansion to cover a total heat supply area of 30 million m2 in the next phase.
Contractors involved in the Haiyang nuclear power plant
Westinghouse was the reactor supplier, while a consortium of MHI and Harbin Power Equipment (now Harbin Electric) was contracted to supply two steam turbine generator (STG) packages for the Haiyang NPP in January 2008.
Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) manufactured the turbines along with the main valves, rotors and other auxiliary equipment, whereas Harbin supplied the turbine casings, heat exchangers, MSRs, condensers, feedwater heaters and deaerators. Both the companies supplied a turbine generator each.
Curtiss-Wright Corporation was contracted to supply eight reactor coolant pumps (RCPs) for the two Haiyang AP1000 reactors in September 2007.
CNNC Baotou Nuclear Fuel supplied 64 domestically produced new fuel assemblies to each reactor of the Haiyang NPP in 2019.
SPX Corporation, an industrial manufacturer based in the US, supplied specialty squib valves for the Haiyang reactors under an agreement signed with Westinghouse in February 2009.
Doosan, a heavy equipment manufacturer based in South Korea, supplied the reactor pressure vessel and steam generator for Haiyang-1, whereas China-based Shanghai Electric Nuclear Power Equipment manufactured the pressure vessel and steam generator for Haiyang-2.
Westinghouse manufactured the reactor vessel internals for Haiyang-1 at its Newington facility in Connecticut, US, whereas Shanghai No.1 Machine Tool Works provided reactor vessel internals and the control rod drive mechanism for Haiyang-2.
