Power-hungry Guangdong has begun preliminary work on its third nuclear plant in Yangjiang City in the west of the province.

The US$8-billion Yangjiang plant will be China's largest nuclear power plant by generation capacity.

The Yangjiang Municipal Government and China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group (CGNPG) signed a land-lease contract for Yangjiang station early last week. CGNPG runs the nuclear plant at Daya Bay, Shenzhen.

Preparatory work on the Yangjiang plant had commenced, CGNPG said.

The new station is scheduled for completion in 15 to 20 years. Six units of 1,000 megawatt capacity are planned with the first two units to be commissioned by 2010.

CGNPG will submit the project proposal to the Central Government this year with approval expected next year (2004).

Preliminary work is expected to take two to three years, with the main work to start at the end of 2006.

There are now two nuclear plants in Guangdong, the Daya and Ling'ao plants, both at Daya Bay, Shenzhen.

The Yangjiang project will cover 5.35 million square meters of land at Shahuan, a bay surrounded by mountains on three sides and facing the South China Sea.

Since 2001, the growth in power demand has largely outpaced growth in power generating capacity. Despite importing more power from some western provinces, Guangdong has had to stagger peak power consumption times.

Editor: Catherine