DALIAN, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) — China on Saturday began construction of the main body of a nuclear power station in Dalian, Liaoning province, the first nuclear power station in northeast China.

The Hongyanhe nuclear power station, located in Donggang Township, is designed to have six generating units of million-kilowatt class.

The first phase of the project consists of four generating units. The first unit, now being built, is expected to start commercial operation in 2012. It will be joined by the other three units in 2014, when annual electricity output of the station will reach 30 billion kwh.

The whole project will cost an estimated 50 billion yuan (6.6 billion U.S. dollars), according to Xu Juncai, deputy general manager of the Liaoning Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Co. Ltd.

The China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group Holdings Co. Ltd. and the China Power Investment Corporation each holds a 45-percent, while the Dalian Municipal Construction Investment Company holds the remaining 10 percent of the project.

"Construction of the station will help ease the increasing electricity demand in the northeast boosted by the country`s strategy of revitalizing the region," said Liu Huanxin, deputy director of the Liaoning provincial reform and development commission.

The station will drive development of equipment manufacturing industry in the region, Liu said.

Electricity generated by the station will account for one-tenth of the total in northeast China when the four units of the first phase go into operation, according to Xu.

The installed nuclear power generating capacity on the Chinese mainland stands at around eight million kilowatts at present, accounting for a little more than one percent of the total installed power generating capacity, far below the world average level.

The government plans to increase the country`s installed nuclear power generating capacity to 40 million kilowatts by 2020 to meet growing power demand and cut emissions, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

China is the world`s second-largest power consumer after the United States. The nation used more than 590.78 million tons of raw coal to generate power in the first half of this year, up nearly 18 percent year-on-year, according to China Electricity Council.

DALIAN, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) — Senior Chinese leaders Wu Bangguo and Wen Jiabao expressed high hopes and put forward requirements on safety, quality and efficiency of nuclear power projects, as the country kicked off construction of a new project in its northeast region.

China on Saturday began constructing the main body of the Hongyanhe nuclear power station in Dalian, a coastal city of Liaoning Province, the first nuclear power project in northeast China.

Wu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People`s Congress (NPC), said in his written instruction that the construction of the Hongyanhe nuclear power station marks the beginning of China`s new round of nuclear power station construction.

Wu encouraged technicians to make innovations and make progress in independent design, construction and operation of nuclear power station.

Premier Wen Jiabao called on efforts to ensure the safety and quality of the Hongyanhe nuclear power project and to improve the efficiency of construction and operation.

Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan announced the beginning of construction of the Hongyanhe nuclear power station at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday.

Zeng said developing nuclear power is an important step China made to adjust energy supply structure, to achieve energy conservation and reduce pollutant discharge as well as to deal with global warming.

Zeng said the Hongyanhe nuclear power station is of great significance to revitalize the traditional industrial base in northeast China and to increase power supply in this region.

The first phase of the project consists of four generating units. The first unit, now being built, is expected to start commercial operation in 2012. It will be joined by the other three units in 2014, when annual electricity output of the station will reach 30 billion kwh.

The whole project will cost 48.6 billion yuan, jointly invested by the China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group Holdings Co.,Ltd, China Power Investment Corporation and Dalian Municipal Government.

BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua)– China`s first 1.5 megawatt (1, 500 kW) wind-power generator with completely independent intellectual property rights has rolled off the assembly line in the southern Guangdong province.

The price was at least 20 percent lower than similar imported products or those manufactured by joint ventures, said the Guangdong Mingyang Wind Power Technology Co., Ltd.

The generator was designed for China`s climate and is resistant to typhoons, sand storms and extremely low temperatures. The technologies of the generator have been certified by GL Germanischer Lloyd, according to the company.

The company has received orders for 250,000 kw of its wind power generators valued at 1.6 billion yuan (210.5 million U.S. dollars), said Zhang Chuanwei, chairman of the the parent company Guangdong Mingyang Electric Group Co., Ltd.

He said that company`s annual production capacity of wind power generators will rise from the current 450 units to 1,000 units by 2010.

China`s wind power resource exceeds one billion kilowatts, according to official estimates.

DALIAN, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) — Construction is expected to begin in mid- or late August on the main section of a nuclear power plant near the northeastern Chinese port city of Dalian, the first such plant in the country`s old industrial base, a company official said on Friday.

The Hongyanhe nuclear power station, located the Donggang Township, of Dalian`s Wafangdian City, Liaoning Province, would have six generating units, each with an installed capacity of one million kilowatts, said Xu Juncai, vice general manager of the Liaoning Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Co. Ltd.

It was 110 km north of Dalian and 270 km south of the provincial capital Shenyang, Xu said.

"It is expected that four units, to be built in the first phase, will go into commercial operation in 2012," he said.

The China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group Holdings Co. Ltd. and the China Power Investment Corporation would each hold a 45-percent stake, and the remaining 10 percent would be held by the Dalian Municipal Construction Investment Company, Xu said.

He did not disclose the cost of the project, which was approved by the State Development and Reform Commission in April last year, but earlier reports said it would cost 23 billion yuan (3.03 billion U.S. dollars).

"We are now going through the final procedures of being approved by the state, which may be finished in mid- or late August," Xu said.

The power plant is expected to play an important role in efforts to rejuvenate China`s old industrial northeast.

China has 11 nuclear reactors in operation. The nation`s installed capacity of nuclear power stands at eight million kilowatts, accounting for merely one percent of the total installed capacity of electric power.

The government plans to increase the country`s nuclear power capacity to 40 million kilowatts by 2020, to account for four percent of the country`s total electric power, in a bid to meet growing power demand and cut emissions, according to the State Development and Reform Commission.

China is the world`s second-largest power consumer after the United States. The nation used more than 590.78 million tons of raw coal to generate power in the first half of this year, up nearly 18 percent year-on-year, according to China Electricity Council.

China built its first nuclear power plant in east coastal Zhejiang Province in 1991.