China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Co. and its partners including Shanghai-listed Shenergy Co. agreed to build a nuclear power plant in the central province of Anhui to cater to rising energy demand.

Guangdong Nuclear, Shenergy, Shanghai Electric Power Co. and Anhui Province Energy Group Co. signed an agreement on May 20 to jointly invest in the first phase of the nuclear plant, Guangdong Nuclear said in a statement on its Web site.

China wants to increase the use of alternatives such as nuclear energy to reduce pollution and dependence on oil and coal. The country needs to add two reactors a year to meet a target of generating 4 percent of electricity from nuclear plants by 2020 compared with about 2.3 percent now.

The Anhui nuclear plant may cost 46 billion yuan ($5.84 billion), the state-run news agency Xinhua reported in November last year, citing the local Wuhu government.

The plant at Bamaoshan, about 60 kilometers from Wuhu City, will have an installed capacity of 4,000 megawatts, Xinhua said. Two 1,000 megawatts units will be built in the first phase pending an approval from the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top planner, it said.