Power supply takes a hit due to reduced gas

K-E says a reduction in gas supply has resulted in gas-fired plants being rendered not operational

KARACHI: As the temperature soared to 41° Celsius on Thursday, K-Electric (K-E) resorted to load-shedding, claiming that the peak demand of power increased by 2,600 megawatts on Thursday.

K-E also claimed that it has been receiving gas supply at approximately 90 million cubic feet per day as opposed to the Economic Coordination Committee allocation of 276 mmcfd. The current supply is well below the supply levels during this time last year.

However, the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) has said that gas supply has not been affected to K-E and that the power utility company has issued a misguided statement in this regard. The SSGC spokesperson issued a statement, saying that the company has been receiving lower supply of gas from its fields and hence they have resorted to load management in the gas provided to domestic users.

According to K-E’s Communication Director Sadia Dada, the reduced gas supply has left 500MW of gas-fired plants not operational, creating an additional shortfall in the system.



“The shortfall is expected to increase as the demand increases. Due to this additional shortfall, customers in both residential and commercial areas will experience a temporary outage of one hour whereas industrial customers will experience outage spells of four hours on average,” she said, adding that the load management cycles are being done on a rotational basis.

Dada added that currently K-E has been able to supply only 2,200MWs of electricity and efforts to communicate timings to individual customers via their customer service and digital platforms are under way. She requested the public’s support and patience during the process.