Pakistan on 28 December inaugurated unit 3 at its Chashma NPP in Punjab province. The 340MWe nuclear unit was inaugurated by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who said it was a milestone in the government's efforts to end load shedding.
Chasma-3 was connected to the grid on 15 October and its power level has since been gradually increased to 100%. It is a Chinese-designed CNP-300 pressurised water reactor, construction of which began in May 2011. The Chashma NPP now has three commercially operational CNP-300s. Unit 1 began commercial operation in September 2000 and unit 2 in May 2011. Pakistan began construction of a fourth CNP-300 unit in December 2011 and said he expected this unit to be commissioned by April 2017. Pakistan has four commercially operational nuclear units and three under construction.
A 125MWe Canadian-supplied pressurised heavy water reactor, Karachi unit 1, has been in commercial operation since 1972. In addition, two 1161MWe Chinese-supplied Hualong One plants are planned at the Karachi site. A ground-breaking ceremony for Karachi 2 was held in August 2015, and the units are scheduled to enter service in 2021 and 2022.
