Island's green drive powers ahead as nuclear mini-reactor nears debut

Hainan has crossed a critical threshold in its energy transition, with new energy installed capacity surpassing 12.71 million kilowatts by end-June, accounting for 50.1 percent of the province's total power capacity. The milestone signals that the tropical island has entered a new phase in which renewable sources lead a diversified and coordinated power supply system.

The achievement is part of Hainan's broader push to build a national ecological civilization pilot zone. The province has intensified pollution control and green development, aiming to create a world-class, low-carbon free trade port.

In Chengmai county, the once-notorious Yanchunling landfill has been transformed into a sprawling green park. Issues regarding the landfill — which once contained 4.5 million cubic meters of waste and triggered over a thousand complaints — have been fully resolved after seven years of intensive work.

"The air quality is getting better day by day. You've solved a longstanding problem," said Zhang Guilin, a local resident who presented a banner to the project team.

The rehabilitation project reflects local authorities' commitment to ecological restoration. "From complaints to praise, this once-intractable issue has become a testament to public understanding, support and participation in environmental protection," an official from the Chengmai county ecology and environment bureau said.

At Haikou National High-Tech Industrial Development Zone, two natural gas generator units operated by Datang Haikou Clean Energy Power Generation Co are running smoothly.

"We have formed a diversified clean energy system covering gas power, offshore wind, photovoltaic and energy storage — with all installed capacity from clean sources — accounting for 13.42 percent of the province's total and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by over 2.6 million metric tons annually," said Jing Guodong, director of the safety production and science innovation center at Datang Hainan Energy Development Co.

Across Hainan, renewable energy now accounts for more than 60 percent of new power additions. The province is piloting integrated models such as "offshore wind plus marine ranching" and "photovoltaic plus agriculture" to maximize land-use efficiency and ecological benefits.

As artificial intelligence drives an unprecedented surge in global computing demand, the need for vast, stable electricity supplies has become critical. China is positioning itself at the forefront of this convergence by deploying small modular reactors (SMRs) to power data centers.

Wei Zhigang, chairman of CNNC Hainan Nuclear Power Co, said tech giants like Microsoft and Google are actively exploring SMRs for AI infrastructure. Wei's company is nearing completion of Linglong One — the world's first onshore commercial SMR — with 90 percent of installation done and commercial operations slated for this year.

"One of the key advantages of SMRs is their flexible placement. We can deploy them right where computing power is needed, enabling close load-matching," Wei said. His company is exploring a nuclear-powered zero-carbon industrial park in Hainan's Changjiang Li autonomous county, aiming to create a "nuclear energy plus computing power" pilot zone.

Upon completion, Linglong One will generate 1 billion kWh annually, enough to power 526,000 households while cutting CO2 emissions by 880,000 tons — equivalent to planting 7.5 million trees. It is also the first onshore commercial SMR to pass an International Atomic Energy Agency safety review.

"It's like the evolution from desktop computers to laptops," Wei said, adding that the reactor's integrated design offers compactness, convenience and safety.

IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi said nuclear power is "destined to be the energy partner of the AI revolution", adding that only nuclear can provide low-carbon, round-the-clock, high-density, stable and scalable power.

The global interest comes as data recently released by OpenRouter — a platform widely used by overseas developers to access AI models — said Chinese large language models had surpassed US-developed LLMs for 11 consecutive weeks as of July 12, placing China at the top position globally.

Since Feb 8, more than 30 percent of tokens used by US companies on the platform each week were related to Chinese AI models, with the share peaking at 46 percent. Tokens are small units of data processed by AI models during training and inference. In contrast, the share was only 4.5 percent in the first half of 2025.

As Hainan continues to lead in both clean energy and nuclear innovation, the island is poised to become a critical hub where ecological civilization meets the computing needs of the future.