CHASHMA: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has inaugurated Pakistan’s fifth nuclear power plant C-4 here on Friday, having capacity to generate 340MW electricity.

While addressing the ceremony he stated that this C-3 project started in 2016. "This power plant will not only help in fulfilling  energy needs of the country but also assist in reducing environmental pollution," the premier said. 

Abbasi further said that all units completed before C-4 are working excellently. "This project is series of mega energy projects being completed across the country under vision of Nawaz Sharif," he added. 

The Prime Minister also thanked Chinese government and state bank for providing technical and financial assistance in completion of this power plant. 

"It is great to see that work on K-2 and K-3 is underway swiftly," he said. 

He further asserted that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government will end load shedding by November. 

The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) is pursuing its vision of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and set to achieve another milestone with the operation of Chashma Nuclear Power Plant Unit-4 (C-4).

The plant would be operational on trial basis and pass through various functional and safety related tests at full power. With tremendous efforts of PAEC and Chinese friends,the nuclear power plant C-4 would become operational and connected to the country’s power grid.

The Chashma nuclear power projects units, C-1, C-2 and C-3 have been successfully contributing to the national grid with an excellent performance since 2000, 2011 and 2016 respectively.

The three nuclear power plants of Chinese origin are the best performing power stations in the country, supplying over 950 MW to the national grid with availability factors of around 99%.

Currently, country’s four nuclear power plants KANUPP, C-1, C-2 and C-3 are operational and generating a total of 1,030 MW of power whereas with the inauguration of C-4 Chashma plant, the power supply would be further enhanced.

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 2,200 MW to the national grid.