Pakistan Power Outage: After System Failure, Major Towns are Without Electricity

A problem in Pakistan’s national electricity grid caused a significant power outage early on Monday, according to the energy ministry.

All of the country’s urban centres, along with the largest, Karachi, the capital, Islamabad, Lahore, and Peshawar, were without power.

As per Pakistan’s electricity minister, Khurrum Dastagir, a “change in frequency” caused the circuit breakdown in the south of the country.

Power outages are a common occurrence in Pakistan and are attributed to poor administration and a lack of infrastructure development.

The power system “suffered a lack of frequency, which caused a major breakdown” at around 07:30 local time (02:30 GMT), according to a statement from the electricity ministry. It added that “quick work” was being done to bring back the system.

According to him, portions of the electricity were shut off overnight since there was less need for it in the winter than there was in the summer when many sections of the country endure extremely hot temperatures and individuals use fans and air conditioners.

In southern Pakistan, somewhere between “Dadu and Jamshor”, when the electricity started turning on in the morning, frequency alteration and voltage changeability were noticed. As a result, electricity generating units closed down one by one, he told the TV channel.

It denotes that lights are off, fans have stopped, and traffic signals are out nationwide.

Many people in Pakistan are accustomed to dealing with irregular power supplies, and power shortages—when energy is temporarily cut off in some areas to avoid system failure—are widespread.

Many businesses, companies, and houses have on-site generators that start up when the power goes out.

As part of a new energy-saving initiative, the government mandated earlier this month that all supermarkets and malls close at 22:30 and eateries at 22:00.

According to the cabinet, this should save the nation about 62 billion Pakistani rupees ($270 million). Government agencies have been instructed to use 30% less electricity. The majority of Pakistan’s electricity is produced using imported fossil fuels.

The country’s economy and its foreign reserves, which it needs to pay for energy imports, have been put under further strain as a result of the rise in global energy costs over the past year.