(Nasdaq, Oct 25, 2006)-China's oldest nuclear power plant is to gain two new reactors with a capacity of at least 1,000 megawatts each to help guarantee electricity supplies to the cities of Shenzhen and Hong Kong, the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission said Wednesday.

China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Co. will build the reactors at the Dayawan nuclear power station in Shenzhen in the southern province of Guangdong, SASAC said in a notice on its Web site.

It follows a framework agreement between China Guangdong Nuclear Power and the Shenzhen municipal government signed Tuesday, the notice said, without stating the level of investment involved.

Guangdong is currently dependent on fuel oil-fired generation, although power shortages in recent years have led to an increase in alternative capacity, mostly coal and hydropower.

China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Co. and China National Nuclear Corp. are the only companies authorized to build nuclear power plants in China, which is striving to raise the share of nuclear power in total electricity generation to more than 4% by 2020 from the current 2%.

Nuclear power is attractive to China's leaders because it is considered cleaner than generating electricity from coal, which is high in sulfur.

Motivation for more nuclear plants is also coming from a desire to reduce the nation's reliance on Middle East oil.

Source:Nadaq