Sanba nuclear power plant — China

Sanba nuclear power plant is a 4,000 MW nuclear power station in Sichuan, China. It ranks #100 of 6,685 China power plants by installed capacity. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, nuclear supplies about 4.6% of China's electricity; the national grid averages 525 gCO₂/kWh (41.7% low-carbon) (2025).

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id GEM_nuc_sanba_china.

Data provenance

Source of the capacity and fuel values:

capacity: GEM Global Nuclear Power Tracker September 2025 unit-status sum (cancelled); fuel: GEM GNPT

In context: how this plant compares

At 4,000 MW, Sanba nuclear power plant is below the median nuclear plant in China (5,000 MW). Its current lifecycle status is “Cancelled” — so it is not yet, or no longer, generating at full output. Nuclear plants split uranium to raise steam with no direct CO₂; they run as steady baseload with very high capacity factors and the longest operating lifetimes of any thermal plant.

Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #43 largest nuclear power plant of 72 in China by capacity.

China has 72 nuclear power plants in this dataset, together about 313,184 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

• Sichuan Jinxi · Hydro · 150 MW · Sichuan
• Sichuan Yingshan (Sanfeng) power station · Biomass · 18 MW · Sichuan
• Huaneng Nanchong power station · Coal · 2,000 MW · Sichuan
• Sichuan Xiaolongmen · Hydro · 52 MW · Sichuan
• Sichuan Jialingjiang Xinzheng · Hydro · 108 MW · Sichuan
• Nanchong power station · Coal · 2,000 MW · Sichuan

Location

Coordinates 30.9896, 106.2998 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions