China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) has started building a new reactor at the Taipingling nuclear power plant in Huizhou, pushing ahead with plans to turn the site into the Guangdong‑Hong Kong‑Macao Greater Bay Area’s (GBA) main hub for home‑grown nuclear technology.

State broadcaster CCTV reported that workers at Taipingling on Sunday completed the first concrete pour for the basemat of Unit 4, marking the formal start of construction on the second reactor in the project’s Phase II. Taipingling is the first nuclear plant in the GBA to use Hualong One, China’s domestically developed third‑generation pressurised water reactor design, which Beijing is positioning as a core asset in its clean‑energy and export portfolio.

The new build comes less than a month after Unit 1 at Taipingling entered commercial operation on 20 April, becoming the first Hualong One unit to supply power to the GBA grid. According to CGN and Guangdong authorities, Unit 1 can generate more than 9 billion kilowatt‑hours of electricity a year, enough to meet the annual production and household needs of about one million residents in the region. 

Unit 2 has completed commissioning and is preparing for its first fuel loading, while the main civil works for Unit 3 are under way and preparatory work for a planned Phase III is progressing.

In total, Taipingling is designed to host six Hualong One units built in three phases. Once all six are online, the plant’s annual output is expected to exceed 55 billion kilowatt‑hours, equivalent to saving around 16.65 million tonnes of standard coal and cutting about 50.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year, according to project officials.

For the GBA, the project is being framed as both an energy‑security play and a showcase for indigenous technology. Hualong One reactors incorporate multiple passive and active safety systems and have already been deployed at other coastal sites such as Fuqing in Fujian and Fangchenggang in Guangxi, giving Chinese operators a growing experience base. 

Locating a six‑unit cluster within driving distance of Hong Kong and Shenzhen also fits into wider plans to decarbonise the region’s power mix while supporting fast‑growing demand from data centres, advanced manufacturing and transport.

CGN says the Taipingling build‑out is on schedule, with Unit 2 of Phase I to load fuel “in the near future” and Phase II now fully in the construction stage following the Unit 4 concrete pour. As additional reactors come online over the next decade, the plant is expected to become a cornerstone of the Bay Area’s low‑carbon baseload power – and a reference site for Hualong One as China courts overseas customers for its nuclear exports.