China's first nuclear energy heating project that covers multiple prefecture-level cities, operated by the State Power Investment Corp, was put into operation in East China's Shandong province on Saturday.

The project, which is also the third phase of "Warm Nuclear No 1", a commercial nuclear energy heating project in China, provides green heating to Shandong province's Haiyang and Rushan with a 23-kilometer main transport pipe. 

The green energy will be provided by the Haiyang nuclear power plant in Shandong, which has a heating system connected to two traditional nuclear units, making it the first commercial attempt in China to supply heat from traditional nuclear power.

The total heating area of the project will reach 12.5 million square meters this winter, which will keep about 400,000 people warm, it said. 

State Power Investment Corp has been stepping up efforts to expand its nuclear power-based heating projects to more areas across the country in recent years.

The company started its first phase of the nuclear heating in 2019 in Shandong, which has provided 700,000 square meters of carbon-free heating, followed by the second phase that covered 5 million sq m in 2021, it said.