Poor state of affairs: NEPRA seeks report on power breakdown

Says blackout exposes fragile stability, reliability of the system

ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has taken serious notice of a widespread power breakdown in the National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC)’s northern system on May 16 and has directed the company to submit a comprehensive report on the matter.

On Wednesday, a massive power breakdown struck large swathes of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa that deprived two-thirds of the country’s population of electricity for almost 10 hours.

The breakdown led to a complete blackout in the north from Guddu to Peshawar, leaving provinces of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa without electricity.



Earlier on May 1, 2018, the tripping of NTDC’s 220-kilovolt transmission lines had affected Chashma nuclear power plant - units 1-4 - that caused a power generation loss of around 2,100 megawatts in the north.



“The two consecutive power breakdowns within a short span have once again exposed fragile stability and reliability of the system. This shows poor state of affairs at the NTDC,” Nepra commented in a statement.

The regulator said it had viewed seriously the prevailing situation in respect of poor performance of the NTDC’s transmission network and had directed NTDC to immediately come up with a detailed report on the unforeseen circumstances that caused the widespread breakdown.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 18^th, 2018.

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