Mechanical industry: Nuclear power construction is a key focus for the future development of clean energy in China
Date
2026-03-11

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The development of clean energy is urgent. Currently, countries around the world are increasing their efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, especially developed countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, which have set targets for over 80% of their stores to come from renewable energy by 2050. According to the World Energy Agency, global demand for primary energy will increase by 33% from 2014 to 2035, mainly driven by developing countries. While the growth rate of coal and oil consumption will slow down, the growth rates of natural gas, nuclear power, and renewable energy will surge, with growth rates of 74%, 134%, and 81%, respectively. At present, China has intensified its efforts in energy conservation and emission reduction. In the past two years, China's total carbon emissions have been reduced by 900 million cubic meters. However, due to the low base of new and renewable energy in China's energy structure, it is in a situation of supply shortage. Therefore, replacing traditional energy with nuclear power will become a top priority for China's environmental governance in the future.


  The cost of nuclear power equipment is fixed, and the market space is huge. The components of a nuclear power plant are usually referred to as nuclear power equipment, including nuclear islands, conventional islands, and auxiliary equipment. Running the entire nuclear power equipment requires over 48000 sets of various system equipment. Among them, there are about 6000 sets of mechanical equipment, over 5000 sets of electrical equipment, and more than 25000 sets of instruments and meters, with a total weight of about 67000 tons. The construction cost of the nuclear island, conventional island, and auxiliary equipment accounts for about 50% of the total construction cost of the nuclear power plant, which is 23%, 15%, and 12% respectively. Assuming the total cost of building a 1 million kW nuclear power plant is 10 billion yuan, the investment in the nuclear island is 2.3 billion yuan, the investment in the conventional island is 1.5 billion yuan, and the investment in auxiliary equipment is 1.2 billion yuan.


  The 13th Five Year Plan is an important year for the development of nuclear power. According to the plan, by 2020, China will build an average of 5 to 6 new nuclear power units per year, with an additional investment of about 100 billion yuan, and the proportion of domestically produced equipment will not be less than 85%. Therefore, nuclear power investment and exports will be beneficial for the rapid development of sub industries such as nuclear electroformed forgings, nuclear power main equipment, nuclear grade valves, and nuclear power HVAC equipment. It can be foreseen that the downstream demand for nuclear power main equipment industry will be very strong in the future, and the industry's average annual sales revenue is expected to reach 45 billion yuan. And the sales scale of other sub sectors of nuclear power equipment will also see a significant increase.


  We believe that nuclear power will serve as another business card for Chinese manufacturing exports overseas, following the high-speed rail model and gaining strong promotion, becoming another "Chinese business card". By 2020, there will be a total demand of 320 billion yuan for nuclear power installed capacity both domestically and internationally. At the same time, the continuous promotion of the "the Belt and Road" will make the market demand for nuclear power equipment in China reach 60 billion yuan/year, and the nuclear power industry in China will usher in great development in the future. On the other hand, according to statistics, there are currently at least 12 enterprises that have obtained the qualification license for the installation of civil nuclear pressure equipment, and some provincial-level power engineering companies are also applying for the license. It is expected that by the end of the 13th Five Year Plan period, the installed capacity of nuclear power operation will reach 58 million kW, with over 30 million kW under construction. The market prospects are broad.