WASHINGTON, Sept 4: Pakistan may sign a deal with China in November for acquiring six nuclear power plants with an installed capacity of 300 MW each, diplomatic sources told Dawn.

Top Chinese officials are expected to visit Pakistan in November to sign the deal, they added. Pakistan has a target of producing 8,000 MW of nuclear power by 2025.

Pakistan had earlier invited the United States to set up nuclear power plants in the country but Washington showed little interest. Instead, the US signed a deal with India to supply nuclear fuel and technology.

Pakistan has made a comprehensive 25-year energy security plan and is willing to invest as much as $150 billion from 2005 to 2030 to meet its growing energy needs. Nuclear energy is a major component of this plan.

At present, natural gas and oil supply 80 per cent of Pakistan’s energy needs. However, the consumption of those energy sources vastly exceeds the supply. For instance, Pakistan currently produces only 18.3 per cent of the oil it consumes, fostering a dependency on imports that places considerable strain on the country’s financial position.

At a recent meeting in Washington on South Asia’s energy needs, a Pakistani delegation told international energy experts that from October 2005 to June 2006 alone, Pakistan spent more than Rs68 billion on power subsidies.

Pakistan is also worried about its natural gas resources which may begin to deplete by 2015 at the current rate of consumption.

Mukhtar Ahmed, energy adviser to the prime minister, told another recent meeting in Washington that over the next 20 years, the country’s overall demand for energy will increase by 350 per cent. During this period, the percentage of Pakistan’s total energy needs met from indigenous sources will fall from 72 to 38 per cent.

To deal with this situation, Pakistan is focusing on the development of indigenous energy resources, and programmes emphasising greater energy efficiency and better management.

At the same time, Pakistan also is focusing on developing alternative energy resources, which includes increasing the capacity to produce nuclear energy.