Work is underway on the first unit of the Changjiang plant for China National Nuclear Corporation in China’s southern island province of Hainan, China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC) has announced.

The plant, a joint venture between CNNC and China Huaneng Group will comprise four 650MW CNP-600 pressurised water reactors (PWRs) and will be built in two phases, according to World Nuclear News.

The first unit is scheduled to begin operations by the end of 2014, while the second reactor is due to begin in 2015 at a total cost of about 19bn yuan ($2.8bn).

The nuclear power reactors will reduce the Hainan’s consumption of coal by about 260 million tons annually, cutting CO2 emissions by around 780t and soot emissions by 450t.