The brief

Analyst view

• Two 1.5 GW Guohe One reactors run at Shidaowan, Shandong, grid-connected in Oct 2024 and Sep 2025.
• China approved the first two series-built Guohe One units at Laiyang in July 2026; site work began in September.
• About 250 GW of capacity in November 2024, about 71% of it from clean sources.

Technical approach

As reported

Reactor design

AP1000 scaled up and made Chinese

Guohe One enlarges the Westinghouse AP1000 to about 1.5 GW, with China holding full rights to the design.

Series build

Many identical units

Building the same design repeatedly, as planned for Laiyang's six units, is meant to cut build time from 56 months for the first units to 50 for later ones.

Mixed fleet

Nuclear beside solar and wind

Steady nuclear output complements the group's large solar and wind fleets, whose output varies with the weather.