The first unit of Taishan nuclear plant, modelled on the EPR currently under construction at Flamanville in Normandy, is scheduled for commissioning in late 2013
- By Stephen Heiser -
On the occasion of the official visit to China of French Prime Minister François Fillon, Henri Proglio, Chairman and CEO of EDF and Qian Zhimin, Chairman of electricity generator China Guangdong Nuclear Power Company (GCNPC) received final approval from the Chinese authorities for the creation of a joint venture (TNPJVC: Guangdong Taishan Nuclear Power Joint Venture Company Limited), whose purpose is to build and operate two EPR nuclear reactors in Taishan (in the Province of Guangdong), with EDF’s holding fixed at 30% for 50 years.
The first unit of Taishan nuclear plant, modelled on the EPR currently under construction at Flamanville in Normandy, is scheduled for commissioning in late 2013.
The signing of the joint venture marks a major step forward in the cooperation between EDF and CGNPC, a cooperation which started 25 years ago with the construction and operation of power plants at Daya Bay and Ling Ao. This development makes EDF an investor for the first time in nuclear generation in China, an energy market which is currently seeing rapid growth.
The EDF Group, one of the leaders in the energy market in Europe, is an integrated energy company active in all businesses: generation, transmission, distribution, energy supply and trading. The Group is the leading electricity producer in Europe. In France, it has mainly nuclear and hydraulic production facilities where 95% of the electricity output involves no CO2 emissions. EDF’s transport and distribution subsidiaries in France operate 1,274,000 km of low and medium voltage overhead and underground electricity lines and around 100,000 km of high and very high voltage networks. The Group is involved in supplying energy and services to more than 38 million customers around the world, including more than 28 million in France. The Group generated consolidated sales of € 64.3 billion in 2008, of which 47% in Europe excluding France. EDF is listed on the Paris Stock Exchange and is a member of the CAC 40 index.