Tianwan Nuclear Power Unit 7 Achieved First Grid Connection

From: Lianyungang Daily Updated: 2026-10-10 10:36

On October 8, Tianwan Nuclear Power Unit 7, China’s first VVER-1200 third-generation nuclear power unit, successfully achieved its first grid connection at the Tianwan Nuclear Power Base in Lianyungang, officially delivering nuclear power to the grid. The unit has a single-unit capacity of 1.265 million kilowatts and a designed service life of 60 years. Zhang Yi, Chairman of Jiangsu Nuclear Power Co., Ltd., said Unit 7 is expected to enter commercial operation within this year. Once all eight units at the Tianwan Nuclear Power Station are operational, the total installed capacity will exceed 9 million kilowatts, with annual power generation surpassing 70 billion kilowatt-hours and annual carbon dioxide emission reductions of 57.4 million tonnes.

The Yangtze River Delta is a major growth pole of China’s economy. To further enhance the region’s green credentials, Jiangsu Province has been steadily increasing the share of clean energy and driving green transformation. As regional industries accelerate their upgrading, stable, low-carbon nuclear power is becoming a key pillar for optimizing the power supply mix in the Yangtze River Delta. In recent years, Lianyungang has leveraged its coastal resources to coordinate the integrated development of “nuclear, solar, wind, storage, and hydrogen” energy, and has encouraged relevant nuclear enterprises to publish carbon footprint factors for new nuclear technologies. This establishes benchmarks for carbon footprint accounting of nuclear-powered steam supply in China and provides strong support for export enterprises in calculating their carbon footprints and meeting overseas green trade regulations.

The Tianwan Nuclear Power Base is planned for eight units, with Units 1 through 6 having safely and stably generated over 550 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity. Unit 7, a Russian VVER-1200 (AES-2006) third-generation unit, has an annual generation capacity of nearly 10 billion kilowatt-hours per unit. It features a double-layer containment structure capable of withstanding extreme external events such as commercial aircraft impacts. Going forward, personnel will continue to complete various performance verifications for Unit 7 as scheduled. Once all eight units at the base are operational, the Tianwan Nuclear Power Base is expected to become the world’s largest nuclear power complex, adding a stable baseload power source for the green energy transition of the Yangtze River Delta.