Shandong Nuclear Power Co's plant in Haiyang, Shandong province, provided heating produced by clean energy to all urban districts of the city during the winter. ZHANG XIAOHUI/FOR CHINA DAILY

A demonstration project on the comprehensive use of nuclear energy in Haiyang, Shandong province, is being used as an example in China's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) to better develop nuclear energy.

In addition to its main business of power generation, in 2019, Haiyang Nuclear Power Plant started commercial heating services.

This year, the plant provided heating from clean energy to all urban districts of Haiyang during the winter, marking the first commercial attempt in China to supply heat from traditional nuclear power.

Shandong Nuclear Power Co, which operates the plant, said more than 200,000 residents benefited from the nuclear power project, which provided carbon-free heating for 143 consecutive days to an area of 5 million square meters.

The company is updating the project, integrating it with a seawater desalination system to produce freshwater for the Jiaodong Peninsula in eastern Shandong, where water supplies are short.

A demonstration project for the simultaneous production and channeling of freshwater and heat was completed in May last year. The project now provides freshwater and heat to nearly 2,000 people in the plant's dormitory area.

This process involves a multistage reverse osmosis and evaporation system that uses heat generated by the plant. Desalinated water is treated until it reaches the drinking water standard and is then heated to 95 C. The water and heat are then channeled to consumers via a pipeline.

A device is used to separate the heat and water, with the former entering the thermal system, and the latter entering the water supply system for use.

The company said that compared with the traditional method of producing and transporting water and heat via separate channels, the simultaneous project will halve the total cost.

Wu Fang, chairman of the company, said that in addition to its key business of power generation, a 1-million-kilowatt nuclear unit is expected to supply heating to an area of 30 million sq m.

The unit will produce 30 million metric tons of freshwater during a single heating season by using the technologies to simultaneously produce and channel water and heat, Wu added.