PARIS, (DNA) – China has signed a deal to build a third large nuclear reactor in Pakistan, which wants to get a fifth of its electricity from nuclear by 2030.

China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) and the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) have signed a cooperation agreement for the construction of a 1,000 megawatt (MW) HPR1000 “Hualong One” reactor at the Chashma nuclear power plant in Punjab.

The PAEC could not immediately be reached for comment.

Pakistan generates five percent of its electricity from four small 300 MW Chinese reactors at the Chashma plant and wants to boost nuclear capacity to 8,800 MW, or about 20 percent of power generation capacity, by 2030.

China is already building two Hualong One reactors with a capacity of 1100 MW each near the port city of Karachi, which are expected to become operational in 2020 and 2021 respectively.