Recently, the State Council executive meeting decided to approve five nuclear power engineering projects, including the Phase I project of Jiangsu Xuwei. Among them, the Jiangsu Xuwei Nuclear Energy Heating and Power Plant is the world's first nuclear energy comprehensive utilization project coupling a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor with a pressurized water reactor. The project adopts a collaborative operation model of "nuclear reactor - steam turbine generator unit - heating system," focusing primarily on industrial heat supply while also taking power supply into account. Once completed, it will supply large quantities of high-quality, low-carbon industrial steam to the Lianyungang petrochemical industrial base, playing a leading and demonstrative role in accelerating the green and low-carbon transformation of the energy, chemical, and other industries.
It is understood that the project adopts a construction plan combining China's third-generation nuclear power technology Hualong One and fourth-generation nuclear power technology high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, both with fully independent intellectual property rights, to build the nuclear energy heating system. The Phase I project plans to build two Hualong One pressurized water reactor nuclear power generating units and one high-temperature gas-cooled reactor nuclear power generating unit, along with supporting steam heat exchange stations. Saturated steam is produced through Hualong One and then reheated a second time by the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor. Once completed, it will have both high-quality steam supply capacity and power generation capacity.
The project is expected to officially commence construction in 2025. After the Phase I project is completed and put into operation, it will supply 32.5 million tons of industrial steam annually, with a maximum power generation capacity exceeding 11.5 billion kWh. It can reduce the burning of 7.26 million tons of standard coal and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 19.6 million tons each year, effectively alleviating the pressure on emission reduction and decarbonization in energy-intensive industries.