Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday directed the Power Division to take departmental action after the findings of an inquiry report termed “human and technical error” for the countrywide power breakdown on Jan 23.
The report was presented in a cabinet meeting by the four-member inquiry committee established on the instructions of the prime minister. The committee was headed by Minister of State for Petroleum Musadik Malik.
The report said that human negligence and defects in the power transmission system were the main reasons behind the massive power outage. It also put forwards its recommendations to prevent any repeat of such incidents.
On Jan 23, 2023, power supply snapped at 7:30am and spread all around the country in just four minutes after the power plants tripped. The main reason behind the outage was human negligence, as the AC circuits were not switched on in the morning, the report said.
As soon as the wind energy in the southern region was added to the system to meet the power demand in the north of the country, the frequency of the AC line increased dramatically, resulting in the tripping of various power plants under the automatic security system, it added.
The report said that the power plants were supposed to be restarted through the ‘black start’ system, but that system also failed, causing significant delays in power restoration in many areas of the country.
Read Country incurs Rs100b loss due to power breakdown
The report pointed out that the Kot Addu Power Company (Kapco) had the black start facility, but the contract for its power plant had expired. The prime minister questioned why the contract was not renewed after its expiry.
“The nation is waiting for the punishment of those who showed serious negligence and are responsible for this major incident,” Shehbaz told the cabinet. “The Power Division should take immediate departmental action against this criminal negligence.”
The prime minister also directed the authorities concerned to take necessary steps to link the power system with Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (Scada). He also ordered the Power Division to draw reforms plan for the power generation and transmission system.
During the cabinet meeting, the Power Division gave a briefing to the federal ministers regarding power theft and line losses. The Power Division suggested the creation of a special police force to bring the situation under control in areas where the line losses were more than 60%.
The cabinet was informed that the project for the solarisation of electrified tube wells across the country was under consideration, which would be started from Balochistan. The prime minister formed a special cabinet committee to draw a strategy for eliminating power theft and line losses.
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