On Monday, a power breakdown occurred across Pakistan, caused by a “variation in frequency” in the country’s South. Energy Minister Khurram Dastagir Khan stated that it may take 12 hours to restore the power completely. He explained that power generation units are temporarily switched off in winter at night as an economic measure to save fuel.
When the units were turned on in the morning, a frequency variation was reported in the southern part of the country between Jamshoro and Dadu, which caused a fluctuation in voltage and the power generation units were shut one by one due to cascading impact.
The restoration efforts are currently underway and the supply to some grid stations has already been restored. The minister claimed that the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) and some grids of Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) have already been restored.
However, the situation in Karachi is more complicated as it has its own electric supply system. The minister said that they provide K-Electric with 1,000-1,100 megawatts routinely, however, it will be restored within a few hours. He added that it is not certain how long it will take to sort the issue, but his target is to restore electricity in the country within 12 hours.
The poor state of Pakistan’s power sector is a reflection of an economy that is frequently experiencing electricity outages due to a lack of funds to upgrade aging infrastructure. The Energy Minister stated that it was not a major crisis, but the power breakdown caused inconvenience for many people.
Pakistan has enough power installed capacity to meet the demand, especially in winter, when it mostly has a surplus. However, the country lacks resources to run its oil and gas-powered plants and the sector is so heavily in debt that it cannot afford to invest in infrastructure and power lines.
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