Since the State Council announced in April 2022 the approval of three new nuclear power unit projects including Shandong Haiyang, the "national team" of nuclear power has frequently raised financing recently. On May 16, 2022, Fuqing Nuclear Power, a subsidiary of China National Nuclear Corporation, and Shandong Nuclear Power, a subsidiary of State Power Investment Corporation, both announced a new round of fundraising plans. China has been developing nuclear power for more than 30 years. After the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan in 2011, China's approval of nuclear power has been significantly tightened, and the entire nuclear power construction industry has entered a trough. It was not until 2019 that China's nuclear power projects started construction one after another, breaking the "zero approval" status for many years. A total of 11 new nuclear power projects have been approved since 2019.

Under the dual carbon goal, nuclear power, as a clean energy source, has attracted much attention for its strategic significance. In late March, the "14th Five-Year Plan for Modern Energy System" announced by the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration proposed that by 2025, the installed capacity of nuclear power operations will reach about 70 million kilowatts.

Lin Boqiang, dean of the China Energy Policy Research Institute of Xiamen University, and others all told reporters from Seedao.com that under the premise of ensuring safety, nuclear power can be said to be the most cost-effective and stable clean energy. However, the characteristics of the nuclear energy reaction itself and the accidents that have occurred in history also determine that the development of nuclear power must be cautious. Zeng Yachuan, director of the Nuclear Power Department of the National Energy Administration, once again stated in an interview with the media in mid-May that ensuring safety should always be given top priority in nuclear power work.

Lin Boqiang told a reporter from Seedao.com that although nuclear power is an extremely ideal energy source, its development space is relatively limited considering safety and site selection issues. He believes that the number of nuclear power units in China is expected to reach 140 in the future, and the power generation of nuclear power units will account for about 4% to 5% of the total power generation in the country.

Three nuclear power "national teams" frequently raise funds

On April 20, the National Standing Committee pointed out that after years of preparation and comprehensive evaluation and review, the three new nuclear power plant projects in Zhejiang Sanmen, Shandong Haiyang and Guangdong Lufeng, which have been included in the national plan, were approved. The approval is the fourth consecutive year that China has approved new nuclear power projects since it "restarted" nuclear power in 2019.

A reporter from Jiandao.com noticed that a number of nuclear power "national teams" recently announced fundraising plans. On May 16, Fujian Fuqing Nuclear Power Co., Ltd. announced that it plans to issue the first phase of ultra-short-term financing bills in 2022, and plans to raise 400 million yuan, which will be used to repay the stock interest-bearing debt.

Fuqing Nuclear Power is controlled by China Nuclear Power, a listed company under the state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation, and is one of the latter's major subsidiaries in nuclear power operations.

Fuqing Nuclear Power currently operates 6 nuclear power units, of which Units 1 to 4 were put into operation from 2014 to 2017, and Units 5 and 6, as the world's first demonstration project of the third-generation nuclear power "Hualong No. 1", will be launched in 2021 and 2022 respectively. It was put into commercial operation, and the total installed capacity of the six units was 6.678 million kilowatts.

China Nuclear Power Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Nuclear Power, recently introduced seven strategic investors through public listing. According to China Nuclear Power’s announcement on May 13, seven institutions including China Life Insurance, Sichuan Investment Energy, and Zheneng Electric Power jointly held a 30% stake in the latter after the capital increase and share expansion of China Nuclear Power. China Nuclear Power said that the introduction of war investment by CNNC will help optimize the capital structure of CNNC and strengthen financial support.

Also on May 16, Shandong Nuclear Power Co., Ltd. announced that it will issue the fifth phase of ultra-short-term financing bills in 2022, raising 700 million yuan, which will be used to repay maturing debt financing instruments.

Shandong Nuclear Power is indirectly controlled by the state-owned State Power Investment Group Co., Ltd. through China Power Investment Nuclear Power Co., Ltd. Shandong Nuclear Power is the main body of development and operation of Shandong Haiyang Nuclear Power Project. The first-phase project is one of the independent projects of China's third-generation nuclear power technology. The Haiyang Phase-II project under construction, Units 3 and 4, has been included in the national nuclear power medium and long-term plan. .

It is reported that units 1 and 2 of the Haiyang Phase I project have been put into commercial operation in October 2018 and January 2019, respectively. The total installed capacity of the two units is 2.5 million kilowatts, and the on-grid electricity will be 18.4 billion kilowatt hours in 2021.

Wind statistics show that since 2022, Shandong Nuclear Power has issued 5 phases of ultra-short-term financing bonds, except for the first phase of 300 million yuan of carbon-neutral bonds to raise funds for green projects such as energy conservation and environmental protection, pollution prevention, resource conservation and recycling. , and the remaining four tranches of bonds totaling 3 billion yuan are used for debt repayment.

Another national nuclear power team, the central enterprise China General Nuclear Power Group Co., Ltd., has also issued three phases of ultra-short-term financing bills and one phase of medium-term notes in 2022, with a total of 6.1 billion raised funds, all of which are used to repay the company. Head Office or Subsidiary Debt.

By the end of 2020, CGNPC had operated and managed 24 nuclear power units in operation, distributed in Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian and Liaoning, with a total installed capacity of 27,142 MW, accounting for 54.42% of the total installed capacity of nuclear power in operation in China.

What is the potential for the development of nuclear power?

Under the dual carbon goal, nuclear power, as a clean energy source, has attracted much attention for its strategic significance. The reporter from Seedao.com noticed that at the National Energy Work Conference held at the end of 2021, "actively developing nuclear power in a safe and orderly manner" was proposed as a key task.

In late March, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration announced the "14th Five-Year Plan for Modern Energy System". The plan proposes that under the premise of ensuring safety, actively and orderly promote the construction of coastal nuclear power projects, and rationally deploy new coastal nuclear power projects; by 2025, the installed nuclear power operating capacity will reach about 70 million kilowatts.

China has developed nuclear power for more than 30 years. The first self-designed and self-built nuclear power plant, Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant, was connected to the grid in December 1991. However, after the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan in 2011, China's approval of nuclear power has been significantly tightened, and the entire nuclear power construction industry has entered a trough. It was not until 2019 that China's nuclear power projects were opened one after another, breaking the "zero approval" status for many years. A total of 11 new nuclear power projects have been approved since 2019.

According to statistics from the China Nuclear Energy Industry Association, as of the end of the first quarter of 2022, there were 54 nuclear power units in operation in China, with an installed capacity of 55,805.74Mwe. In the first quarter, the cumulative power generation of China's operating nuclear power plants was 98.983 billion kWh, accounting for 4.97% of the country's cumulative power generation. Digital nuclear power industry and analysts all told the reporter from Seedao.com that nuclear power is the most cost-effective and cleanest energy source without considering site distribution and safety factors, but the safety of nuclear power construction is extremely prominent. Keywords: infrastructure, infrastructure construction, domestic engineering news, planning and investment

In mid-May, Zeng Yachuan, director of the Nuclear Power Department of the National Energy Administration, once again proposed in an interview with the media that ensuring safety should always be given top priority in nuclear power work. Lin Boqiang, dean of the China Energy Policy Research Institute of Xiamen University, told a reporter from Seedao.com that although nuclear power is an extremely ideal clean energy source, its development space is relatively limited considering safety and site selection issues.

Lin Boqiang believes that there are currently more than 70 nuclear power generators under construction and operation in China. In the future, the number of nuclear power generators can be doubled to 140. This number is the ceiling for nuclear power development. By then, the power generation of nuclear power units will be among the total power generation in the country. The share is about 4% to 5%. Editor / Xu Shengpeng