Pakistan to acquire two nuclear power plants from China

Pakistan to acquire two nuclear power plants from China

Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) and China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) are likely to enter into a contract to carry out a joint venture, which would enable Pakistan to acquire two nuclear power plants, with a combined
power creation capacity of 2,000 megawatts.

The two power plants will be utilised for setting up Karachi Nuclear Power Plant-2 (Kanupp-2) and Kanupp-3 and help lessen the energy crisis.

Once joint study to finalise design modifications is done, a contract for establishing Kanupp-2 and Kanupp-3 will be negotiated.

PAEC has revealed that China National Nuclear Corporation may be asked to grant intellectual property rights for the existing 1,000-megawatt plant and suggest steps which could help Pakistan avoid violation of property rights.

Pakistan has been facing energy shortfall in past couple of years and this has industrial activity, denting overall economic growth of the country, which stood at 2.4 per cent last fiscal year.

The current government, in an attempt to increase power production capacity, has turned their focuses on developing nuclear energy on a relatively bigger scale.

For that very reason, the Energy Security Action Plan has set their focus on long term plans by increasing the share of nuclear power. They plan on accomplishing this by installing 8,800-megawatt nuclear power plants by 2030.

These new nuclear power plants will lead to electricity production at cheaper rates compared to the thermal source which is the primal source of creating electricity in the country.  

Power shortages reached their peak, a month ago, at around 8,000 to 8,500 megawatts, forcing long hours of outages across the country.

In China the three country owned companies are allowed to operate nuclear power plants, including China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Company (CGNPC) and China Power Investment Corporation
(CPIC).

The Planning Commission has questioned whether Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission had approached all three nuclear power plant developers in order to ensure fair competition is maintained. “Moreover comparison of intellectual property
rights of other nuclear power plant vendors may also be brought out,” the commission said.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=3156

Posted by Wajahat Javed on Nov 10 2011. Filed under Business, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry