German media: China becomes a leader in the world's nuclear power construction market
Source: German Engineer website (date: 2014-11-24)
A recent article published by the German "Engineer" website pointed out that China is now the world's leading builder of nuclear power plants: by 2040, about 130 nuclear reactors will be put into operation, surpassing Europe and the United States. At the same time, Chinese nuclear power companies are going abroad.
According to a new report from the International Energy Agency, 11% of world electricity currently comes from nuclear power. By 2040, global nuclear power generation capacity will grow by 60%. Most of the new nuclear power plants are expected to come from emerging countries, with China the most, followed by India, South Korea and Russia.
The United States and Europe are still leading the number of nuclear power plants, but they will change in the future. More than 200 nuclear reactors in developed countries are aging. The International Energy Agency estimates that by 2030, China's nuclear power volume will surpass that of the United States for the first time; by 2040, China will distance itself from Europe and the United States in all data.
China currently maintains an economic growth rate of more than 7%, and electricity demand has also increased by about 7% year-on-year. Coupled with the increasing air pollution in major cities, it is no longer feasible to rely solely on coal power for growth. Compared to wind and solar power, nuclear power has become a priority choice for both pollution control and economy.
China has six nuclear power plants. By 2040, China will invest US $ 345 billion in new nuclear power plants and invest 132 billion euros in capacity expansion. In the foreseeable future, China's nuclear power technology will also emerge in Europe.
Because of excessive investment, many countries often take a negative attitude toward nuclear power plant investment. Fatih Birol, the chief economist of the International Energy Agency, believes that nuclear power has two advantages: first, it can reduce carbon dioxide emissions in this way as much as possible, which is equivalent to renewable energy; Nuclear power is considered a long-term reliable power source.