ISLAMABAD: Faced with increasing costs of generating fossil fuel-based electricity, Pakistan sees nuclear power as a viable option for meeting energy needs and cutting back on its import bill, which keeps inflating due to rising oil and gas imports.
Renewable and nuclear energy sources have great potential to help Pakistan not only expand its electricity generation capacity but also tackle the environmental hazards caused by excessive use of fossil fuels in making electricity.
The nuclear power generation in the country is managed by Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), which develops, operates and maintains nuclear power plants, according to WealthPK.
Of late, Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) has intensified efforts to meet the nuclear electricity generation target of 8,800MW by 2030 set by the government under the Energy Security Plan.
Pakistan plans to set up a total of 32 nuclear power plants by the middle of this century, which will ultimately enable it to switch to zero-carbon emission clean energy.
It’s worth noting here that the country has six nuclear power plants — one of which — the 1,100MW Karachi Nuclear Power Plant Unit-3 (K-3) has been connected to the national grid. This would assist in meeting peak power demand of roughly 25,000MW during summer and 12,000MW during winter.
Talking to WealthPK, Principal Scientific Officer at Pak-NDC Secretariat Global Change Impact Studies Centre, Ministry of Climate Change, Muhammad Arif Goheer said, “Nuclear power plants emit very little carbon dioxide emissions, and can be an ideal source of clean energy to satisfy the country’s future energy demands.
Nuclear energy may offer a viable alternative to help Pakistan minimise its reliance on fossil fuel-based electricity generation since it is a member of the Paris Climate Treaty and one of the countries most affected by climate change phenomenon.”
“The country’s massive reliance on oil and gas to produce power is causing an increase in electricity prices. Furthermore, Pakistan’s energy consumption has skyrocketed since the start of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project. In this scenario, nuclear power plants may help Pakistan with a more reliable source of electricity in future,” Goheer elaborated.
It is necessary to mention here that the country’s transmission and distribution capacity is 22,000MW only, which results in hours-long electricity outages in the hot summer months. Besides, over 50 million people are not yet connected to the national grid. What adds to the distribution incapacity is the rising cost of electricity production through fossil fuels like gas and diesel.
As per the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority’s state of industry report 2021, the total installed generation capacity of public sector power plants in the country was 20,820MW on June 30, 2021, while the installed generation capacity of private sector power plants, including K-Electric, was 18,952MW. Out of this combined 39,772MW, 25,098MW is thermal (GENCOs, IPPs, SPPs & K-Electric), 9,915MW hydel, 1,248MW wind, 530MW solar, 369MW bagasse and 2,612MW nuclear.
The addition of 1,145MW K-2 Nuclear Power Plant in May 2021 has significantly increased the nuclear power generation capacity of the country.
The total installed capacity of nuclear power plants connected with the National Transmission and Dispatch Company’s system on June 30, 2021 was 2,475MW.
The electricity generation of the nuclear power plants connected with the NTDC system during the fiscal year 2020-21 remained at 10,871GWh compared to 9,704.89GWh during the 2019-20 fiscal, showing an increase of 1,166.12GWh, according to the Nepra report. –INP
