The outer dome of Unit 1 at the Taipingling nuclear power plant, located in Huizhou City, south China's Guangdong Province, was completed on Thursday. The outer dome has a radius of 36 meters and a height of about 11 meters, approximately the size of five basketball courts.

Unit 1 is scheduled to be completed and put into operation in 2025. It will be the first Hualong-1 nuclear power unit in China's Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, capable of providing 10 billion kilowatt-hours of clean electricity annually.

The Taipingling Nuclear Power Plant is planned to have six 1-million-kilowatt Hualong-1 third-generation nuclear power units. Currently, Unit 1 is at a critical stage of installation and commissioning, while Unit 2 is entering the peak period of equipment installation.

Both units are scheduled to be completed and put into operation in 2025. Each unit will be able to meet the annual electricity needs for the production and daily life of 1 million people.

Once the project is completed and put into operation, the annual electricity generation will exceed 50 billion kilowatt-hours. This will equivalently reduce the consumption of standard coal by over 15 million tonnes and cut carbon dioxide emissions by about 41.2 million tonnes, said Zhang Guoqiang from China General Nuclear Power Group, who is in charge of the construction of the Taipingling Nuclear Power Plant.

The environmental benefits are comparable to planting nearly 113,000 hectares of forest, Zhang added.