Successful project will help nation to expand technology overseas
A deal was signed on Thursday in London for a new 18 billion pound ($23.45 billion) nuclear power station, according to media reports.
Reuters reported on Thursday that Chinese, British and French government officials were at a ceremony in London, where a deal for EDF to build the Hinkley Point C plant in southwest England was signed.
The Hinkley Point C nuclear project is Britain's first nuclear power plant in two decades, and it will be co-built by China General Nuclear Power Corp (CGN) and France-based EDF, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
The Chinese company has a one-third stake, said Xinhua.
CGN couldn't be reached for comment on the issue as of press time.
"CGN's joining of the nuclear power project in Britain will help the company make a profit on the one hand," Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, told the Global Times on Thursday.
"On the other hand, it will have the effect of demonstrating Chinese firms' ability in nuclear technology overseas, which will help China export its nuclear technology."
The deal also has significance for the "One Belt and One Road" initiative, which was put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, noted Lin.
It will be helpful to promote China's cooperation with Central Asian and Southeast Asian countries, Lin said.
"Britain's agreement on the deal has showed the developed country's recognition of China's technology in the nuclear sector," Wang Dezhong, a professor specializing in nuclear-related technology at the School of Mechanical Engineering of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, told the Global Times Thursday.
Compared with developed countries, China has more room to improve its technology in the nuclear sector, but the country has lots of experience in building nuclear facilities, which are significant in developing nuclear technology, said Lin.
As of the end of June, China had 30 nuclear power generating units in operation, according to data from the China Nuclear Energy Association.
In the first half of the year, China's electricity generation by nuclear power generation units reached 2.76 trillion kilowatt-hours, accounting for 3.46 percent of the total power generation in China, said the association.
Li Li, head of consulting firm ICIS China's research team, said that the deal "could be beneficial for Chinese technologies in the nuclear, high-speed railway and petrochemical industries expanding overseas."
"But China still needs to be cautious in expanding its nuclear business into developing countries due to the political risks and national security issues," Li told the Global Times on Thursday.
The deal has not gone entirely smoothly. A signing ceremony set in July was delayed after the government of new British Prime Minister Theresa May asked for a review of the deal.
The UK government confirmed it would proceed with the first new nuclear power station for a generation on the condition that it could prevent EDF from selling its controlling stake before completion of the project, according to a statement by the UK government on September 15.
"UK-based businesses will benefit from more than 60 percent of the 18 billion pound value of the project, and 26,000 jobs and apprenticeships will be created," said the statement.
The board of EDF approved on Tuesday the new conditions set by the British government for the nuclear project to go forward, Reuters reported.
