Power shortfall drops but outages persist

Duration of electricity cuts in different parts of country up to 12 hours

ISLAMABAD:

The power shortfall in the country has come down from 5,000 MW to 4,662 MW but the duration of electricity outages in different areas is still up to 12 hours.

Sources in the Power Division said the total power generation in the country at present was 21,838 MW while the total demand for electricity stood at 26,500 MW.

Hydropower sources are generating 4,930 MW and government thermal plants 1,595 MW.

The sources added that the total output of private sector power plants was 12,307 MW.

Wind power plants are generating 1,606 MW but solar plants are producing nothing.

The sources further said bagasse-powered plants were producing 169 MW and nuclear plants were generating 1,231 MW.

The duration of power outages in different parts of the country is up to 12 hours.

The electricity outages in Islamabad region is up to four hours while the duration is even longer in areas with high losses.

Earlier this month, Minister of Development and Planning Ahsan Iqbal met with Iranian Ambassador Seyed Mohammad Ali Hosseini, seeking an increase in electricity import.

Emphasising the importance of neighbourliness with the Islamic Republic of Iran and bilateral cooperation in the field of energy, Ahsan had requested an increase in Iran's electricity exports to Balochistan.

The minister had requested the Iranian ambassador to expand economic cooperation, especially to increase the export of electricity by 100 MW in addition to the current 104 MW of electricity to the province from Iran.

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Hosseini, while emphasising the development of cooperation between the two countries, announced Tehran's readiness to supply electricity to Balochistan.

The meeting came on the heels of the electricity shortfall rising to over 7,000 MW following which, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held an emergency meeting on June 4 and issued strict instructions to curtail frequent power outages.

During that meeting, PM Shehbaz had issued stern warnings to the officials of the energy ministry to rein in the crisis without delay, telling them that failure to do so would earn them dismissal from their service.

The prime minister had reprimanded the officials while rejecting their explanations for the biting power outages and directed the energy minister and finance ministry to plug the energy shortfall and furnish a viable plan to bring the situation under control within 24 hours.

The huddle had reviewed the power outages in the country and discussed measures to reduce the electricity shortfall that had exceeded 7,000 MW.

According to insiders, the PM had lashed out at the officials concerned while directing them to reduce the duration of power outages to two hours maximum under any circumstances. “Power outages for more than two hours are unacceptable. Do whatever [you have to bring this down],” he had ordered.

“I don’t want any explanation. People want to get rid of power outages and I will not compromise on public issues,” the premier was quoted as saying in response to the explanations given by the officials.