Out of order: Power plant crashes, national grid loses 235 megawatts

Technicians called in from Italy for repairs which may take up to four months.

SUKKUR: The national grid suffered a loss of 235 megawatts when the Liberty Power Plant situated near Daharki district in Ghotki was compromised after its gas turbine caught fire.

On Sunday night, a fire broke out in the gas turbine following an explosion. The turbine, which runs the power plant, went out of order, causing a shortfall to the national grid. The entire Ghotki district and parts of Khairpur district were plunged into darkness following the incident. Though electricity was restored after a couple of hours, the quantum of load-shedding has increased from four hours to eight in some parts of Upper Sindh.



According to sources at the plant, the facility had suffered a loss of billions of rupees because of the negligence of the operational staff. They added that engineers and technicians had been called in from Italy to repair the plant and it might take up to four months to resume its operations. On the other hand, an operator at the plant’s exchange refuted the news of the fault, claiming that it was a routine shutdown for maintenance purposes.

Meanwhile, Sukkur Electric Power Company’s media manager, Noor Ahmed Soomro, told The Express Tribune that a fault in any single power plant does not affect the energy supplied to any particular area. He explained that all power plants are linked to the national grid and power supply to the affected areas is supplied through alternative sources.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 18^th, 2013.