The Hongyanhe nuclear power plant in China’s Liaoning province will soon be host to a demonstration of nuclear heating. It will be the first nuclear energy heating project in northeast China. Nearly twenty thousand local residents will benefit.
The project will include six miles of a primary pipeline network, three and a half miles of a secondary pipeline network and four new heat exchange stations according to China General Nuclear (CGN).
It is estimated that the project will reduce the consumption of coal by five thousand seven hundred and twenty six tons. It should reduce CO2 emissions by fourteen thousand tons. It will “effectively improve the atmosphere in the heating area” and provide a “remarkable” environmental protection benefits.
The Hongyanhe nuclear power plant is owned and operated by Liaoning Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Company which is a joint venture between CGN and State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC). Each holding a 45% stake. The Dalian Municipal Construction Investment Company holds the remaining 10% stake. Last March, Liaoning Hongyanhe Nuclear Power signed an agreement with Liaoning's largest central heating enterprise, SPIC subsidiary State Power Investment Northeast Electric Power Company, for a district heating project at the Hongyanhe plant.
Construction of Phase I of the Hongyanhe plant including four CPR-1000 pressurized water reactors designated Units 1 through 4 began in August of 2009. Units 1 and 2 have been in commercial operation since June 2013 and May 2014 respectively. Unit 3 entered commercial operation in August 2015. Unit 4 began operating in September of 2016. Phase II comprised two ACPR – 1000 reactors designated Units 5 and 6. Construction of Unit 5 started in March of 2015 and Unit 6 construction started in July of 2015. Unit 5 went into commercial operation in July of 2021 and Unit 6 began commercial operation in June 2022.
The Hongyanhe nuclear heating project is the first district heating project in northeast China. The Chinese government has stated that clean-energy heating is a priority. In 2017, the government issued guidance on clean heating in winter in northern China. The Chinese National Energy Administration (NEA) released a five-year plant covering 2017-2021. It highlighted the innovation of clean heating technology and consideration of nuclear heating.
China’s Haiyang nuclear power plant in Shandong province officially began providing district heating to the surrounding area in November of 2020. This was China’s first commercial nuclear heating project. A trial of the project was carried out the previous winter. It provided heat to seven million five hundred thousand square feet of housing. This included the plant’s dormitory and some local residents. This year, the Haiyang Nuclear Energy Heating Project started supplying heating to the entire Haiyang city.
The first phase of district heating demonstration project at the Qinshan nuclear power plant in China's southern Zhejiang Province was ordered in December 2021. This project is divided into three phases. The first phase now provides nuclear energy-generated central heating to five million square feet of accommodation in three residential areas. Fifty-four thousand square feet of apartments for almost four thousand residents of Haiyan County will also be supplied with heat. This covers the main urban area of Haiyan County and the entire area of Shupu Town.
Russia, several East European countries, Switzerland and Sweden have all engaged in nuclear-fueled district heating schemes. Heat from nuclear power plants has also been provided to industrial sites in several countries.