Electricity restored, only routine loadshedding happening: power division

Power generation and transmission has been fully restored and only routine load-shedding is being carried out, as per the latest the power division's latest statement, after Pakistanis suffered a day back a major breakdown which continued in several areas till the early hours of Friday.

“Electricity transmission and generation have been restored across Pakistan, including restoration of full supply from the national grid to Karachi,” the division said in a statement.

Large swathes of the country on Thursday, including Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab, experienced a major power breakdown.

Routine life came to a grinding halt for hours as power shortfall of 8,000MW emerged following tripping of transmission lines that affected multiple cities across Sindh, Balochistan and southern Punjab.

According to Wapda sources, a technical fault occurred in the Guddu Powerhouse that led to the crisis situation. However, the Ministry of Energy said Thursday night that electricity transmission system across Pakistan had been restored after a major power outage hit several parts of the country.

In a statement, the energy minister had added that a disturbance that occurred in the 500KV line of Karachi had been cleared, and further power was being diverted from alternative power plants, which will help the power situation to return to normal by Friday morning.

Southern parts of the country, mainly Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan, were left without power after a fault was detected in the national grid’s southern transmission system. However, despite the ministry’s statement, power had not been completely restored as sources said the electricity supply from the Tarbela Dam had been suspended.

16th breakdown in 10 years

Earlier today, sources within the National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) had said that the countrywide power crisis, caused due to an "accidental fault" in the national grid, had not been controlled yet.

Sources in the NTDC had said that it was a major breakdown and could not be controlled even after 24 hours as the authorities have yet to identify the fault.

The sources had added that cities have been facing four hours of loadshedding while rural areas are suffering from a 12-hour-long power outage.

Meanwhile, power plants have not been fully energised and the country still faces a 4,500MW power shortfall while the frequency fluctuation is making things more complex.

The electricity is being restored from the power plants slowly to the system, said the sources. They added that this is the 16th breakdown in the last 10 years.

In January 2021, a major blackout hit the country after a disturbance in the power supply frequency. The power was completely restored hours after the breakdown.