POWER April 2015 - 8

China's Hualong One
Reactor Design Gets
Argentine Boost
Argentina's Ministry of Federal Planning
in early February signed an agreement
with the National Energy Administration
of China and China National Nuclear Co.
(CNNC) to build Argentina's fourth nuclear
reactor, an 800-MW CANDU design, on the
site of the existing Atucha nuclear power
plant. Under the agreement, Nucleoeléctrica
Argentina-holder of the rights to
Canadian CANDU technology-will design,
build, and operate the new reactor. CNNC
will provide equipment, goods, and services
for the project. Construction could take
up to eight years. Argentina has three operational
nuclear power plants: Embalse,
Atucha-1, and Atucha-2, which was commissioned
and renamed " Nestor Kirchner "
in 2014.
But the country's fifth nuclear plant
may be a Chinese-designed light water
reactor that merges CNNC's ACP1000 and
China General Nuclear's (CGN's) ACPR1000
designs in one " standardized design " -
Hualong One. Days after the CANDU
agreement, officials from Argentina and
China signed another cooperation agree1.
ment
that provides for Nucleoeléctrica
Argentina to be the architect-engineer
of the Hualong One project and calls for
maximum local content in the new unit.
CNNC will now provide Nucleoeléctrica Argentina
with a proposal covering " technical,
commercial aspects, pricing and
financing " for the new reactor. The two
governments must approve the proposal
for the deal to advance.
The agreement marks a milestone for
China's fledgling efforts to export nuclear
reactors. If it all pans out, it will be the
first international order for the Hualong
One (Figure 1). China already plans to use
the design at its fifth and sixth units at
the Fuqing site in Fujian Province.
According to the World Nuclear Association,
the reactor design came into being
after China's National Energy Administration
ordered CNNC and CGN to merge their
two third-generation reactor designs-
both of which are three-loop designs
based on the French M310-in 2011. The
Hualong One features a 177-fuel assembly
core, diversified and redundant safety systems,
a single-reactor layout, and double
containments. Both CNNC and CGN have
their own supply chains for the Hualong
First of its kind. Argentina and China in February agreed to cooperate on the construction
of a 1,000-MW Hualong One reactor, which merges China National Nuclear Co.'s ACP1000
and China General Nuclear's ACPR1000 designs in one " standardized design. " If all works out,
it would be the first overseas order for China's third-generation reactor. Courtesy: CGN
One, which means their versions will differ
slightly. The Fuqing plant will feature
CGN's version.
-Sonal Patel, associate editor
One Step Back, One Step
Forward for U.S. Offshore
Wind
Though offshore wind is becoming increasingly
important in Europe, with many
hundreds-of-megawatts projects in service,
the sector has stagnated in the U.S.,
with no operational facilities-and some
high-profile failures.
In early January, the 468-MW Cape Wind
project in Massachusetts, which was on
track to become the nation's first offshore
wind farm, abruptly lost its power purchase
agreements (PPAs) after the developers
missed a deadline to close financing
and begin construction. The project faced
extended litigation from opponents, which
observers believe may ultimately have
killed it (see " Cape Wind Finally Blows
Out " in the March 2015 issue).
That event left another, albeit much
smaller, project the frontrunner for the first
offshore facility to come online in the U.S.
About two weeks after Cape Wind suffered
its setback, Deepwater Wind, the developers
of the five-turbine, 30-MW Block Island
Wind Farm off Rhode Island, announced
that improvements in turbine technology
would allow it to generate more power
than originally envisioned under its PPA
with National Grid (Figure 2).
The project was expected to have a capacity
factor of 40% when the PPA was
approved. Deepwater Wind said it now expects
the farm to operate at a 47% capacity
factor because of improvements in the
turbine technology. Because, under the
terms of the PPA, any power it generates
over the PPA has to be sold at half price,
this may mean a reduction in the overall
price of its power.
Deepwater Wind closed financing on
the $255 million project on Mar. 2 and
has begun preliminary construction and
fabrication. The company plans to begin
installing the turbine foundations this
summer, with commercial operation slated
for late 2016.
Meanwhile, the failure of Cape Wind has
led two Massachusetts lawmakers to propose
changes in the state's renewable energy
legislation. If passed, the bill would
require the state's utilities to sign PPAs
8
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POWER April 2015

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