Third unit at Changjiang site commissioned

China's Changjiang nuclear station in Hainan province has brought unit 3 online, a Hualong One (HPR1000) reactor that achieved first criticality on 10 July and connected to the grid on 1 August. Unit 4 is scheduled for early 2027. The two-unit Phase II project, a CNY40 billion investment, will generate 18 billion kilowatt-hours annually and displace 6.32 million metric tons of coal equivalent per year. This is the first large-scale reactor that China Huaneng has built and operated as controlling shareholder. The site already hosts two operating 600 MWe PWRs (commissioned 2015 and 2016) and is undergoing pre-commissioning of a small modular reactor demonstration unit.

Where this fits

This demonstrates China's strategic commitment to firm, low-emission generation at scale and pace. While Australia debates whether nuclear should be legal, China is operationalising its second domestic reactor design, building redundancy into its supply chain and proving the Hualong One commercially. The HPR1000 is not Australian technology, nor will it be: China's nuclear industry is now a sovereign competitor, not a customer of Western designs. This matters because Australia's renewable-plus-gas transition leans on Chinese solar panels, batteries and inverters for its bulk generation, while forgoing the one firm, energy-dense, low-emission alternative that China treats as strategic infrastructure.

What it means

China is decoupling from energy dependence through nuclear capacity. Australia is deepening dependence on China for the materials and components that anchor its transition pathway. The gap widens: China has the industrial base, supply chain sovereignty and political will to build firm power. Australia has neither the legal framework nor the manufacturing base to follow, and is instead betting on firming a renewables grid with gas and imported batteries in a decade when both could be constrained.