Karachi is the site of the inauguration of the K-3 nuclear power project by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Projects seek to increase power production by 2,200 megawatts.
On Thursday, K-3, the third unit of the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (KANUP), which would generate 1,100 megawatts of power, was officially opened by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
China provided support in finishing the project.
In his remarks, the prime minister described K-3 as a development in Pakistan’s collaboration with its dependable ally China.
He thanked the scientists and workers from Pakistan and China whose efforts had made the project possible.
The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission staff members who participated to the initiative, according to the premier, would be invited to the prime minister’s office for a formal public thank-you.
Shehbaz claimed that Pakistan needed alternative and less expensive energy sources, such as solar, wind, hydroelectric, and nuclear, due to the $27 billion energy import bill.
He lamented the fact that power generation in Pakistan was just 10,000 megawatts despite the country being endowed with vast resources capable of producing 60,000 megawatts through hydropower.
Shehbaz further noted that the production of thousands of megawatts of electricity through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects had a significant impact on the nation’s energy needs.
As Pakistan struggles with the effects of climate change, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi emphasised the value of safe nuclear energy use in a video message.
The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority had designated KANUP as a high power producing facility with its 27.15 percent production, according to Raja Ali Raza Anwar, chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission.
According to a press release, Pakistan will have more nuclear power than 10% of its energy mix once K-3 is integrated into the national grid.
With the signing of the “Agreement for Cooperation in Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy” between the governments of China and Pakistan in 1986, a new era in Pakistan’s nuclear power development programme began.
However, the first significant action was taken on December 31, 1991, when the contract for the building and installation of a 325 megawatt pressurised water reactor (PWR) at Chashma was signed by the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) and China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC).
The building of three additional nuclear power reactors at the Chashma Nuclear Power Generation Station (CNPGS) site increased the partnership. On February 18, 2013, a deal for the building of two additional units with a generation capacity of 1100 megawatts each close to Karachi was inked.
