Pakistan’s largest nuclear power plant (K-2) has been connected to the National grid by the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC).
The state of the art facility in Karachi, built with assistance from China is Pakistan’s sixth nuclear power plant. The PAEC while announcing the inauguration of the project said that the nuclear power plant had achieved criticality at the end of February and was undergoing certain safety tests before it could be connected to the national grid.
PAEC is operating six nuclear power plants in the country. K-1 and K-2 nuclear plants are located in Karachi, while four are sited at Chashma called Chashma Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1-4.
At present, the energy mix of Pakistan is 64% Fossil (gas-38%, oil-16%, coal-10%), 26% hydropower, 6% nuclear, and 4% renewable (solar, wind). In Pakistan, fossil fuel consumption is disproportionally high.
As part of the Energy Security Plan 2005 given by the PAEC, Pakistan has to achieve its targets of producing nuclear power of about 16% of the energy mix, which is 3,350MW by 2021, 8,800 MW by 2030, and 40,000 MW by 2048.
