China’s Shandong Nuclear Power Company (SDNPC), a subsidiary of State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC), which owns the Haiyang nuclear plant in Shandong province, announced that the demonstration district heating system was put into operation in mid November. Haiyang's two AP1000 units will initially provide heating to 700,000 square metres of housing.

Non-radioactive steam is extracted from the secondary circuit of the two units, and is then fed through a multi-stage heat exchanger in an on-site heat exchange station. The heat is then fed to an off-site heat exchange station belonging to local thermal company Fengyuan Thermal Power, from where heated water flows through municipal heating pipes to consumers. Using nuclear energy for heating is expected to avoid the use of 23,200t of coal annually, cutting emissions of soot by 222t, sulphur dioxide by 382t,  nitrogen oxide by 362t and  carbon dioxide by 60,000t.

The Haiyang nuclear plant is expected to provide heating to all of Haiyang city by 2021. With the completion of subsequent units at Haiyang, the plant could eventually heat more than 200 million square metres of housing within a 100km radius, avoiding the use of about 6.62 million tonnes of coal. Up to six CAP1000 units are planned for the Haiyang site. The Chinese government in 2017 issued guidance on clean-energy heating for winter in northern China. The National Energy Administration released a five-year plan, covering 2017-2021, highlighting clean heating technology.