CHASHMA: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Friday inaugurated Pakistan’s fifth Nuclear Power Plant C-4, having a capacity of generating 340MW of electricity.
The plant would be operational on a trial basis and would pass through various functional and safety-related tests at full power.
Personnel of the China Zhongyuan Engineering Company (CZEC) and the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) performed the commissioning and initial start-up of the plant to full power after which acceptance tests were performed.
Addressing the inauguration ceremony of the power plant, the premier thanked China for providing technical and financial assistance to Pakistan for establishing the nuclear power plant and expressed hope that the two countries would continue to collaborate in the energy sector, among others, in the future as well.
“There is no doubt that these power projects would not have been possible without the cooperation of China and the Chinese people,” he said, as he invited China to invest further in Pakistan’s energy sector.
The Chashma nuclear power units – C-1, C-2 and C-3 – are successfully supplying over 950MW to the national grid.
Currently, the country’s four nuclear power plants – KANUPP, C-1, C-2 and C-3 – are generating a total of 1,030MW.
Two large-sized nuclear power plants – K-2 and K-3 – are under construction near Karachi and are scheduled to be operational in 2020 and 2021, respectively, adding another 2,200MW to the national grid.
Published in Daily Times, September 9th 2017.
