KE pins blackouts on SSGC

KARACHI: K-Electric (KE) on Friday said it was continuously facing the challenge of low gas pressure from Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), which had crippled its generation capacity, forcing it to resort to load shedding.

“While the quantity of the required gas remains available, decreased pressure leads to a decline of 250MW to 300MW in electricity supply at a time when demand is high,” it said in a statement.

The power utility said because of low gas pressure, KE’s power plants at Korangi and SITE were not able to operate at their optimum capacity despite remaining fully available.

“To resolve this issue, we have requested to purchase re-liquefied natural gas (RLNG) if made available at required gas pressure to meet short-term requirements and are waiting for the confirmation on the same,” KE said in the statement. KE said at the same time it had also requested the federal government to increase supply from the National Grid till 800MW from existing NKI and Jamshoro interconnections.