China is now second only to the United States In Terms Of Electric Power Capacity
- Edited by Mark McFadden -
According to a report by China Knowledge, China's electricity generation capacity will increase to 860 million kilowatts by the end of this year, putting the country second after the U.S., an energy official said.
New energy sources such as nuclear power and wind power play an increasingly important role, said Zhang Guobao, head of the National Energy Administration. Zhang added that the nation has 11 nuclear reactors and has approved the construction of another 14. Some 24 are currently under construction.
The country's annual wind power generation capacity will reach 20 million kW by the end of this year; 8 million kW of capacity was added in 2009, said Zhang.
Reportedly, at the end of July, China overtook the U.S. to have the world’s largest network with a total length of 375,000 kilometers.
During French Prime Minister François Fillon’s visit to China, Qian Zhimin, chairman of China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corp (CGNPC) and Anne Lauvergeon, CEO of AREVA, will sign an historic agreement for the engineering and development of new nuclear power plants.
Under the terms of the agreement, AREVA and CGNPC will create WECAN, a joint venture in which CGNPC will have a 55% stake and AREVA 45%. Based in Shenzhen, WECAN will be up and running in 2010, with a headcount of more than 2000. The company will be responsible for engineering and procurement for the nuclear islands of the new plants to be built in China by CGNPC and AREVA. These are EPR™ reactors and 1000 MWe plants identical to those already built by AREVA at Daya Bay and Ling Ao.
AREVA and CGNPC will also sign an agreement under which WECAN will possibly provide nuclear island engineering and procurement services outside China.