New nuclear power plant inaugurated in the Chinese province of Guangdong. The Hualong One nuclear unit has the capacity to produce more than nine billion kilowatt-hours per year, enough to supply millions of residents in the Chinese region.
A new nuclear power plant with the capacity to produce more than nine billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year was inaugurated in the Chinese province of Guangdong, in southern China.
According to Chinese media, a Hualong One nuclear unit developed by the China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN), the country’s largest nuclear operator, officially entered commercial operation on Monday in Huizhou, a city about 150 kilometers from Macau and Hong Kong. This unit has the capacity to produce more than nine billion kilowatt-hours per year, enough to supply millions of residents in the region.
According to the state newspaper China Daily, the Hualong One is the first third-generation nuclear technology developed independently by China and is already in operation in several provinces, including Fujian and Zhejiang.
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The president of CGN Huizhou Nuclear Power, Zhang Guoqiang, indicated to the Global Times newspaper that the unit passed all performance tests and ran for 168 consecutive hours at full load, presenting “stable and safe” results.
To the same newspaper, the director of the Sino-French Institute of Nuclear Technology at Sun Yat-sen University, Wang Wei, considered that the nuclear unit will be a stable energy source to support high-quality economic development in the Greater Bay Area.
The Greater Bay Area is a Beijing project to create a world-class metropolis that integrates Hong Kong, Macau, and nine cities in Guangdong province, with about 86 million inhabitants and an economy exceeding one trillion euros.
According to the newspaper, the demand for clean and stable energy in the region has been increasing, with the total electricity consumption of Guangdong province reaching 958.97 billion kWh in 2025, a growth of 4.93% compared to the previous year, placing the province at the top of national energy consumption.
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Guangdong province is already an important nuclear energy hub in China and holds several large-scale nuclear power plants, including Daya Bay, Yangjiang, and Taishan. The Taipingling project, meanwhile, plans for the construction of six Hualong One units in three phases.
When completed, it is expected to produce more than 55 billion kWh per year, which will allow for saving about 16.65 million tons of standard coal and reducing approximately 50.82 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
With the start of operations of Unit 1, CGN now operates 29 nuclear units with a total capacity of 33.04 million kilowatts. The company still has 19 units under construction, of which 17 use Hualong One technology, consolidating the technology as a “cornerstone of China’s future energy matrix.”
The China Daily added that the Hualong One is already in operation in other provinces, such as Fujian and Zhejiang, and that CGN is investing heavily in digitalization and artificial intelligence to improve the safety and efficiency of nuclear power plants. These efforts are part of the national strategy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, in which nuclear energy has been included as an “essential pillar.”
