K-Electric says national grid experienced a loss of frequency, affecting power supply to multiple cities across Pakistan
KARACHI: A major power breakdown hit the country at around 7:30am leaving major cities including Karachi and Lahore without electricity due to a fault in transmission lines.
Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Quetta and other major urban centres of the country were without electricity.
According to details available Geo News, the electricity supply to 90% of Karachi is suspended.
The Ministry of Energy said that according to initial reports, the system frequency of the national grid decreased at 7:34am , which resulted in a widespread breakdown in the power system.
“The work is underway on a fast track to restore the system,” it added.
However, a few minutes later, the Ministry of Energy said that work was started from Warsak to restore grid stations.
The ministry also claimed that electricity was restored in multiple grid stations of the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) and Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO).
‘Loss of frequency’
Before the ministry’s announcement, different power distribution companies had confirmed the power breakdown.
Confirming the news, K-Electric said that at approximately 7:34am, the national grid experienced a “loss of frequency”, affecting the power supply to multiple cities across Pakistan.
“This has also cascaded to KE’s network affecting the power supply to Karachi,” the power distribution company said in a brief update issued in this regard.
According to Quetta Electric Supply Company (QESCO), the two transmission lines from Guddu to Quetta tripped. It added that 22 districts of Balochistan, including Quetta, are without power.
Meanwhile, a power outage was also reported in multiple areas of Karachi.
“There are reports of multiple outages from different parts of the city. We are investigating the issue and will keep this space posted,” K-Eletcric spokesperson Imran Rana said.
The IESCO spokesperson said that its 117 gird stations were without electricity.
Meanwhile, PESCO also confirmed an outage in areas where it supplies electricity.
This is the second time within four months that the country was hit by a major power breakdown.
Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Quetta, Multan, and Faisalabad were hit by a power outage last year in October.
At that time, the power minister said that nearly 8,000 megawatts of power went offline.
Back then, Dastagir had said that the simultaneous faults in two power lines, which had triggered the breakdown, at the same time was concerning for the government. He had also announced that an in-depth inquiry was ordered and promised action.
A timeline of power breakdowns in Pakistan
The country’s generation and distribution network has suffered eight major power breakdowns during the last nine years.
In 2014 and 2017, nationwide blackouts were caused by a fault in Tarbela Power Station while fog, frequency variation and the Guddu Power Plant fault were blamed for breakdowns in 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Every time the party in power announced to conduct a comprehensive probe and vowed to rectify the issues but nothing has happened despite multiple inquiries.
