Energy Minister: "Unprecedented" irregularities have impacted the national grid; the PM has formed a three-person team to look into the problem
KARACHI/ISLAMABAD/LAHORE/QUETTA: Despite the government's assurance that power will be back on by 10 p.m., electricity has still not been restored throughout Pakistan following a power outage that happened early on Monday.
An issue with the national grid prompted the outage, which occurred at around 7:30 am. Energy Minister Khurram Dastagir said that the electricity will be restored tonight, contrary to his earlier prediction that it would by 10 pm.
The outage was triggered by a change in frequency on the national grid, which happened early in the morning when power producing units went on. Khan had informed the media that the units had been temporarily turned off at night to conserve fuel.
"Frequency fluctuation was recorded in the southern region of the nation between Jamshoro and Dadu when the systems were turned on one by one this morning at 7:30am, "added the minister.
"Voltage fluctuated, and cascade effects caused power producing units to shut down one by one. The federal minister stated that this is not a serious problem.
The minister announced that several grid stations in Tarbela and Warsak have begun to be restored by his ministry.
According to the minister, several grids of the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) and Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) have already been restored.
Later, at a news conference, he said that the transmission system was safe despite the national grid experiencing unheard-of voltage swings, which will aid in the restoration of electricity.
"No negative repercussions of the failure on the national transmission system have been recorded by our personnel, which are located all throughout the country. When we restore electricity, this will be beneficial."
He continued by saying that Sukkur, Naushahro Feroze, Larkana, Khairpur Nathan Shah, and the neighbouring villages are all served by a functional power plant in Uch.
So, he explained, using the same power plant, power has been restored in a few Balochistan and South Punjab locations, and Karachi Electric is receiving power from the Thar Coal facility so that it can partially resume its operations.
When discussing the malfunction in Karachi before, the minister had noted that it was a tricky situation because the port city has a comprehensive electric supply infrastructure.
PM, NEPRA's notice
The power outage was strictly noted by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who also ordered the formation of a high-level, three-person commission to investigate the cause.
According to a statement from the PM's Office, the prime minister also requested a report from the energy minister after becoming irritated by the impact of the outage.
The officials were also told by the prime minister to restart the electrical supply right away.
In a statement, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) said that it had taken "serious note" of the power loss and had instructed the NTDC to provide a "full report."
The regulator has previously fined similar disruptions in 2021 and 2022, according to the statement.
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