France's Framatome has signed a long-term service contract with the Taishan Nuclear Power Joint Venture Company Limited (TNPJVC) to support operations of units 1 and 2 at the Taishan nuclear power plant in China's Guangdong province. The 1750-megawatt EPRs entered commercial operation in December 2018 and September 2019, respectively.
The contract covers nuclear plant outage and maintenance work, including spare parts supply and engineering services for eight years.
Taishan 1 and 2 are the first two reactors based on the EPR design to be built anywhere in the world so far. They form part of an EUR8 billion (USD9 billion) contract signed by Areva and China General Nuclear (CGN) in November 2007. The Taishan project - 140 kilometres west of Hong Kong - is owned by the TNPJVC, a joint venture between CGN (51%), French utility EDF (30%) and the Chinese utility Guangdong Energy Group (19%). Unit 1 of the power plant started construction in 2009, followed by unit 2 in 2010. The EPR design adopted in Taishan was developed by Framatome.
"This contract marks an important step in our long-lasting collaboration with TNPJVC and illustrates the cooperation between France and China in the nuclear industry, using the lessons learned from our projects and from our experience in nuclear plant operations," said Catherine Cornand, senior executive vice president of Framatome's Installed Base Business Unit. "At Framatome, our teams are committed to providing our customers with innovative and efficient technologies and services for the safe, reliable and low-carbon operations of nuclear plants worldwide."
Framatome said that, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, its teams strictly comply with the measures taken both in and for travel to China. "The team remains mobilised for the implementation of this contract as soon as conditions allow," it said.
As a nuclear steam supply system specialist, Framatome designed the EPR and offers expertise in new-build EPR projects alongside EDF. In addition to the two EPRs at Taishan, Framatome is contributing to the construction and commissioning of four EPRs - one at Olkiluoto in Finland, one at Flamanville in France and two at Hinkley Point in the UK.
