Massive power outage hits parts of country

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

The 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 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.

Earlier, the Ministry of Energy said that “accidental faults” in the southern transmission system led to the outages. “Several power plants are tripping in a row due to an accidental fault in the southern transmission system, which is hindering the electricity supply in the southern areas of the country,” the ministry tweeted.

Following a major breakdown that affected large parts of the country, Energy Minister Khurram Dastagir Khan assured the nation that the electricity transmission system will be completely restored.

“We will restore the system between Maghrib and Isha,” said the minister in a press conference. He added that an inquiry team has been formed headed by GM Technical NTDC to investigate the matter, which will submit its report within five days.

“Power supply to Faisalabad and Multan regions have been restored completely,” he said, adding that power had been restored partially by the Sukkur Electric Supply Company (Sepco).

Khan said that it would take a few hours to restore the plants that have tripped and was hopeful that plants providing electricity to Karachi will also be restored. “Electricity needs to be restored in Quetta and Karachi,” said Khan, adding that the tripping that triggered the breakdown started from the port city and spread to the other parts of the country.

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. Meanwhile, the officials of K-Electric appeared before the Sindh High Court (SHC) after a bench issued arrest warrants for the power utility’s chief executive officer (CEO).

They informed the court that the KE was not responsible for the power outage. “The entire country’s power system is down,” they said. Earlier, SHC Justice Salahuddin Panhwar issued the arrest warrants for the KE CEO, directing officials to implement the arrest orders within an hour.

He expressed annoyance over the suspension of power supply since 9:30am, as city courts and accountability courts within Karachi were also left without power following the breakdown. He asked how the court could hold proceedings with no electricity. Meanwhile, power supply to Karachi was restored in a phase-wise manner.

KE, in a press statement, said that its network after safely being disconnected from national grid, landed in island mode post which KE through its own generation plants started power restoration within a span of an hour and a half.

KE teams began phase-wise restoration efforts with first priority to strategic installations such as KWSB pumping stations, airport, and hospitals. Power supply was then gradually diverted to residential areas but not limited to PECHS, Orangi, Lyari, Ibrahim Hyderi, Nazimabad, and DHA.

While KE systems remain stable, supply from the national grid is partially affected due to ongoing technical constraints at their end. As per initial information, this situation may persist over the next 48 hours. To manage the constraints, KE may temporarily curtail power supply to industrial zones during nighttime to facilitate residential areas.

Meanwhile, Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) said that after the power breakdown, power feeders of all its pumping station tripped, due to which all pumping stations were completely closed. The water supply to the city came to a halt.

The KWSB, in a press statement, said that the power utility was informed regarding the water situation. The water board requested citizens to use water carefully.