PM breaks ground for $3.48bn Chashma Nuclear Power Plant Unit-5

MIANWALI: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday broke ground on the 1,200 MW Chashma Nuclear Power Plant Unit 5 (C-5) which is likely to be completed in seven to eight years at a cost of around US$3.48 billion.

On June 30 this year, the prime minister witnessed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the C-5 project between China National Nuclear Corporation Overseas Ltd (CNOS) and Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC).

Addressing the ground breaking ceremony here at Chashma, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said keeping in mind the country’s requirements of clean and cheap energy sources, the project should be completed before the given schedule, the official news agency reported.

Terming it a huge milestone and a symbol of cooperation between the two great friends — China and Pakistan — Shehbaz Sharif said the project would help the country promote clean, efficient and comparatively cheaper energy.

He said after a pause of many years, the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was going in full swing again. He gave the credit of concluding the agreement of C-5 to the coalition government and the SPD for their efforts.

“Our detractors had been fabricating rumours all around that Pakistan was going to default on its sovereign commitments but we crossed all turbulent waters in just 15 months,” he added.

However, he said, the risk of potential default had been completely averted through team effort of the government.

The prime minister said a couple of days ago, there was an approval of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme and within 48 hours around $4.5 billion were transferred by Pakistan’s brotherly countries Saudi Arabia and UAE besides another $1.2 billion from the IMF.

About four months ago, he said, the Chinese government and commercial banks rolled over amounts back to Pakistan to the tune of $5 billion.

He paid tributes to Chinese President Xi Jinping, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan for their support in the hour of need.

The prime minister informed that as a result of serious efforts by the coalition government and himself, the Chinese company kept the cost of the project at the level agreed upon in 2017-18 by the then PMLN government and did not include the average inflation of around 10 percent in the project cost. Further, he said, on his request, a discount of Rs30 billion was also given to Pakistan which reflected a sense of sincerity between the two countries.

Chinese embassy’s Charge d’Affaires Pang Chunxue said C-5 would help Pakistan build low carbon, clean and cheap energy which would also produce local jobs and would engage the local industries to contribute in the project.

China National Nuclear Cooperation Chairman Yu Jianfeng said cooperation between Pakistan and China in nuclear energy had become an integral part of the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership.

He said the C-5 project was a significant milestone in the HPR 1000 development global journey. Hualong One (HPR 1000) is the third-generation nuclear power brand to which China has exclusive intellectual property rights.

Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan and PAEC Chairman Dr Raja Ali Raza were also present on the occasion.