Nuclear Power: An Economical Option For Electricity Generation

Nuclear power generation is economically competitive in the power market of Pakistan. The statistic of National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) of Pakistan shows that during 2022-23, the average generation cost (i.e., tariff) of nuclear generation has been Rs.12.5 per unit. This cost is almost half of the generation cost based on gas (incl., RLNG). It is important to note that Pakistan’s existing reserves of local gas will exhaust in around the next 10-15 years at the current rate of exploitation. Consequently, efforts are being made to reduce local gas consumption for power generation sector and its share reduced from 32.2% in 2017-18 to 17.12% in 2021-22.