China National Nuclear Corp. poured its first tank of concrete at the unit 4 of the Sanmen nuclear power plant in Taizhou City, east China's Zhejiang Province on Wednesday, marking the country's start of nuclear power unit construction this year.

The unit 4 of the nuclear power plant is expected to generate power of 10 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) annually once completed, equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 7.5 million tonnes.

Its capacity reaches 1.25 million kilowatts and has a designed operating life of 60 years. The construction period will last four years and eight months.

More than 10 state-owned enterprises and over 40 private enterprises have supplied equipment for the construction of unit 4, increasing the percentage of homegrown technology including design, manufacture, construction and management to nearly 70 percent.

The first phase of the power plant units 1 and 2 were connected to the state power grid and started commercial operation in 2018, with the cumulative power generation exceeding 78 billion kWh to date.

When the total three phases of the nuclear plant construction are completed, the plant will have an installed capacity of over five million kilowatts and be able to generate 40 billion kWh each year, which is equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 30 million tonnes annually.