Damaging inferno: Daharki power plant to stay shut for three months

Duration of daily loadshedding in some parts of Northern Sindh, including Sukkur, increased from 4 hours to 8 hours.

SUKKUR:

The Liberty Power Plant, which came to a grinding halt on Saturday night after its gas turbine caught fire, is expected to stay shut for at least another three months.

Needing major repairs, it might be a couple of months before the power plant, which produces 235 megawatts of electricity every day, will start working again. Due to the fire, power supply to the entire Ghotki district, as well as some parts of the Khairpur district, was suspended for a couple of hours. The duration of daily loadshedding in some parts of Northern Sindh, including Sukkur, has been increased from four hours to eight hours. The power plant will incur a loss of billions of rupees due to the negligence of operational staff, sources revealed. Technical experts from Italy will be called in to repair the damage. However, the operator at the power plant claimed on Sunday that, contrary to reports, the shutdown was due to routine maintenance rather than any faults.

This was quickly refuted by Liberty Power Plant administrator and public relations officer Major Tahir, who confirmed the incident, said the plant’s turbine blades have been damaged. However, he stated that such machinery can always develop faults and the damage was not due to negligence on the part of the plant’s staff.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 19^th, 2013.