Published : 31/08/2025

On August 31, 1993, Unit 1 of the China's Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant successfully connected to the grid for power generation.

At 9:26 p.m. on that day, Unit 1 successfully connected to the Guangdong Power Grid and the Hong Kong Kowloon Power Grid for the first time, with a power output of 45,000 kilowatts.

The Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant is located on the Dapeng Peninsula in Shenzhen's Longgang District.

It is the first large-scale nuclear power plant in Mainland China to introduce foreign investment, equipment, and technology and is also the first large commercial nuclear power plant.

In the early period of the Reform and Opening-up, Guangdong Province saw a rapid increase in "three supplies and one compensation" enterprises, leading to a sharp rise in electricity demand and frequent power shortages.

Starting from the second half of 1978, Guangdong Province began to mobilise professional talents and organise nuclear power construction teams to commence the construction of nuclear power plants.

The Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant introduced French technology with a total investment of 4 billion USD.

To address the funding challenges, the authorities pioneered a new model of "borrowing to build and repaying through electricity sales", obtaining bank loans for construction and subsequently selling electricity to Hong Kong to generate foreign exchange. This approach broke from the convention of major projects in China being solely state-funded.