China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) has connected the second unit (1,100 MW) of the Karachi nuclear power plant in Pakistan to the power grid. Hot functional tests were completed in September 2020 and the company started fuel loading in December 2020.
Two 1,100 MW Chinese-designed ACP-1000 units (Hualong One reactors) are currently being added on the site of the 90 MW Kanupp-1 reactor near Karachi in the Sindh province. China National Nuclear Corporation and China Nuclear Engineering and Construction Corporation (CNEC) have been selected to build the PKR959bn (US$9.6bn) project on a turnkey basis. Construction started in 2015 at unit-2 and in 2016 at unit-3. The two reactors are expected to be commissioned in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Pakistan's Karachi nuclear power project is the first export of the Hualong One reactor outside China.
Pakistan aims to reach 8.8 GW of nuclear capacity by 2030 and 40 GW by 2050. 3 GW are currently under construction or planned, which will raise nuclear power generation to 4.3 GW in 2030, two times less than initially planned.
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