On July 4, Unit 2 of CGN's Guangdong Taipingling Nuclear Power Plant was connected to the power grid for the first time. The photo shows the main control room of Unit 2. Photo Courtesy of DONG Huabo
At 9:16 on July 4, Unit 2 of CGN’s Guangdong Taipingling Nuclear Power Project was successfully connected to the grid for the first time, generating its first kilowatt-hour of electricity. This milestone marks that the second unit of the first “Hualong One” nuclear power base in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has officially gained the capability to deliver power to the grid, taking a critical step toward commercial operation.
Construction of Unit 2 of the Taipingling Nuclear Power Project commenced on October 15, 2020. Following the grid connection, on-site verification confirmed that the unit is operating in good condition, with all technical indicators meeting design expectations. In the subsequent phase, a series of tests will be carried out as scheduled to further validate the unit’s performance. Commercial operation is expected to commence in the second half of 2026.
According to Zhang Guoqiang, Party Secretary and President of CGN Huizhou Nuclear Power Co., Ltd., based on the average annual utilization hours of domestic nuclear power in 2025, Unit 2 of the Taipingling Nuclear Power Project is expected to generate over 9 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually after its official commissioning. This is sufficient to meet the annual production and living electricity needs of nearly 1 million people, and is equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 8.4 million tons per year.
During the construction of Unit 2 of the Taipingling Nuclear Power Project, a range of digital and intelligent technologies were widely applied. The project successively promoted the deployment of intelligent systems and equipment including Smart Construction Site 3.0, digital handover systems, and exoskeleton robots, and implemented CGN’s first digital transformation project for spare parts management, empowering the entire nuclear power business process through intelligent means. In addition, the project has continuously advanced process innovation and technological iteration, achieving new breakthroughs such as the use of mobile aerial work platforms for nuclear cleaning of the inner dome and polar crane, and optimization of the pressurization and depressurization rate for containment vessel tests. The project also promoted modularization and automatic welding processes, and for the first time in a “Hualong One” project, applied the integral lifting technology for steel liner base plates and frustum modules, providing support for improving quality and efficiency in nuclear power engineering construction.
Located in Huangbu Town, Huidong County, the Taipingling Nuclear Power Project is a major national energy project, a core flagship project in CGN’s batch construction and operation of “Hualong One” units, and a key clean energy pillar supporting the high-quality development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The project is planned to comprise six “Hualong One” nuclear power units to be built in three phases, with Units 1 and 2 constituting the first phase. Previously, Unit 1 of the project had already commenced commercial operation on April 20, 2026.
Reported by XIE Baoshu, DONG Huabo
