OREANDA-NEWS. August 27, 2014. Rosatom State Nuclear Corp of Russia is studying the feasibility of building two nuclear plants in Harbin in northeastern China, as part of efforts to circumvent the effects of Western economic sanctions, according to the website of China's Ministry of Commerce.

The Russian firm may partner with China Huaneng Group for the project. In June 2010, Huaneng Heilongjiang Power Corp signed agreements for nuclear power plants with the municipal governments of Hailin city, Fngzheng county and Tonghe county, all in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang and the latter two under the jurisdiction of the provincial capital Harbin.

The projects are located in regions drained by the Songhua and Mudan rivers. The projects were shelved however following the meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan in March 2011. Data of China Electricity Council show that average operating time for thermal-power generating facilities reached only 4,353 hours in Liaoning province, 3,433 hours in Jilin province and 4,134 hours in Heilongjiang province in 2013, a far cry from the national average of 5,012 hours.

The situation for wind power in the region is also dismal, with operating time for wind-power facilities reaching only 1,924 hours in Liaoning, 1,725 in Jilin and 1,951 in Heilongjiang, much lower than the national average of 2,080. As a result, the first generating unit of Hongyanhe nuclear power plant in Liaoning province has been running at only a portion of its capacity since its inauguration in June 2013 and the situation has become even worse after the second reactor on March 13.

The third reactor is scheduled to come online in September next year and construction work on Xudabao nuclear power plant in Liaoning may start by the end this year. Moreover, thermal power facilities with total capacity of 23.5 million kilowatts are expected be built in northeastern China during the 13th five-year national development period from 2016-2020.