LAHORE/KARACHI/QUETTA/ISLAMABAD: Large portions of the nation, including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, and Quetta, are currently without energy due to a nationwide power outage that was caused by a “frequency difference” in the national system early on Monday morning.
That was said by Power Minister Khurrum Dastagir in an interview. As a cost-cutting strategy to lower fuel costs during the winter, the power-generating units are momentarily turned off at night.
“Frequency fluctuation was seen between Jamshoro and Dadu in the southern region of the country when the systems were turned on one by one this morning at 7:30. Voltage fluctuated, and as a result of cascading effects, power generating units were turned off one by one.
The federal minister declared as the nation descended into darkness for the second time in four months, “This is not a significant crisis.
The minister announced that some grid stations in Tarbela and Warsak have begun to be restored by his ministry.
Some of the grids of the (PESCO) and (IESCO) have already been restored, according to the minister.
The minister explained that Karachi’s breakdown is problematic because the port city has a complete electric supply system.
“We typically supply K-Electric with 1,000–1,100 megawatts, but it will be back online in a few hours. How long it will take to resolve this issue is unknown.
The minister stated, “However, my goal is to restore energy throughout the nation within the next 12 hours.
The failure had already been confirmed by many power distribution firms before the energy ministry made its announcement.
According to Quetta Electric Supply Company, the two transmission lines have tripped, leaving 22 districts of Balochistan—including Quetta—without energy (QESCO).
Update on power in Karachi
At roughly 7:34 this morning, K-Imran Electric’s Rana made the statement. The national grid lost frequency, which had an effect on how electricity was delivered to various cities across Pakistan.
The network of the KE is safe and secure, Rana continued. This has also affected KE’s network, causing Karachi’s electricity distribution to be disrupted.
Our teams are keeping an eye on the situation and assisting with restoration efforts.
According to an IESCO representative, all 117 of its grid stations are without power.
In the meantime, PESCO acknowledged the power outage in areas where it provides electricity.
This is the second time in four months that a nation has had a serious power outage.
Earlier breakdown
Power outages occurred in October of last year in Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Quetta, Multan, and Faisalabad.
The electricity minister reported that at that moment, around 8,000 megawatts of power were lost.
Dastagir had previously stated that the government was concerned about the simultaneous faults in two power lines that had caused the breakdown. Along with promising action, he had also declared that a thorough investigation had been mandated.