ISLAMABAD: Completion of Nuclear power plants recently installed by Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) will help reduce load shedding in the country,ending circular debt and need for subsidy on electricity.
"If all the nuclear power plants in Pakistan operated, or could operate at the combined average capacity factors of Chashma Nuclear Power plant 1 and Chashma 2, there would practically have been no loadshedding in the country", official sources at PAEC told APP, here today.
Official said the cost of electricity generation is in fact one of the strongest points in favour of nuclear power in Pakistan.
"The present economic competitiveness of nuclear power in Pakistan, led by the successful operation of two small nuclear power plants, C-1 and C-2 is quite evident from a comparison of unit cost of electricity from various sources in the country in the documents such as NEPRA annual reports".
He said even in future, no increase in real terms is expected in the cost of electrical power from C 1, while for C 2 it will decrease to almost the C 1 level after completion of loan payment.
Coal assessments show that the unit cost of electricity generation from the new nuclear power projects would also be below other major sources in the country apart from hydro and comparable to coal(imported or local).
Official mentioned that from new hydro-electric plants, the unit cost will be considerably higher because of the need to recover capital investments in the associated structures, adding burning of coal carries the burden of a large environmental impact.
"The unit cost from the new nuclear power plants could have been easily decreased somewhat by going for an older version with fewer safety features like single containment instead of double containment, but that would have been contrary to our policy of according the highest priority to safety", official concluded.
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