Changjiang 3 enters commercial operation, China Huaneng's first large reactor
Serguey Asael Shinder2 min readUnit 3 of the Changjiang nuclear power plant on China's island province of Hainan has entered commercial operation, World Nuclear News reports. It is the first of two Hualong One (HPR1000) reactors built as Phase II of the plant.
The timeline is typical of recent Chinese builds. First concrete for unit 3's nuclear island was poured in March 2021 and for unit 4 in December that year. Unit 3 reached first criticality on 10 July 2026 and was connected to the grid on 1 August. According to China Huaneng, which holds 51% of the project, Phase II represents an estimated investment of CNY40 billion (about USD5.9 billion), and both units are scheduled to be fully operational in early 2027.
The site already has two operating CNP-600 pressurised water reactors, which entered commercial operation in 2015 and 2016, and it hosts China National Nuclear Corporation's ACP100 small modular reactor, known as Linglong One, a 125 MWe multi-purpose design for electricity, heat, steam or desalination, which is undergoing pre-commissioning tests. Hainan's 2019 energy policy makes nuclear the primary source of electricity for the island, home to close to 10 million people. Once Phase II is complete, the plant manager was quoted by China Daily as expecting 18 billion kWh a year, replacing more than 6.32 million tonnes of standard coal.
Changjiang 3 is the first large power reactor that China Huaneng has built and operated as controlling shareholder. The company also controls the demonstration HTR-PM high-temperature gas-cooled reactor at Shidaowan, in commercial operation since December 2023, and holds minority stakes elsewhere.
What it means
Roughly five years from first concrete to commercial operation is the pace that makes China's nuclear programme stand out, and the Hualong One is now a series design being built by several utilities. Huaneng's entry as an operator of large reactors broadens the number of Chinese companies able to run them, which matters for the pace of the programme as a whole.
Hainan is also an unusual test: a single island system that has chosen nuclear as its main supply, with a small modular reactor on the same site. How that grid balances large units, an SMR and renewables will be worth watching as unit 4 and Linglong One come online.