Pakistan building 2200 MW nuclear power project

Power starved Pakistan on Tuesday started construction of a 2200 megawatt atomic power plant, estimated to cost around $10 billion, near the coastal city of Karachi.

The plant, being built with Chinese technical assistance on the Arabian Sea coast at Paradise Beach, 40 km west of Karachi, is the country's biggest atomic power plant.

Launching the construction of the project, Prime minister Nawaz Sharif said his government aimed at building more such projects so as to make nuclear power the country's largest energy source.

Pakistan already has three operational nuclear plants generating a total of around 740 MW of power and is setting up another plant in addition to the 2200 MW plant launched on Tuesday.

Power starved Pakistan considers nuclear power as the best option for providing a relatively low-cost solution to the never-ending power cuts that affect the country's productive sectors, in addition to making daily life difficult.

Pakistan is increasingly dependent on imported fuels for meeting its growing energy needs.

"This is one of the first steps of our goal of racing towards a loadshedding-free Pakistan," Sharif said at the launch of construction of the plant.

Sharif said his government planned to increase Pakistan's nuclear power generation capacity to 40,000 MW over the long term.

Pakistan's nuclear power programme, however, is heavily dependent on Chinese support as the country is not a party to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and is excluded from trade in nuclear materials and technology.

Simultaneously, Pakistan is also setting up 6,600 MW of coal-fired power projects at an energy park on the Gaddani beach in Baluchistan province.