Over 7,500MW of power added into national grid: Secretary water and power
Says miscreants blew transmission towers in Sibbi, causing a cascading effect on the entire national grid
PHOTO: EXPRESS/MOHAMMAD NOMAN
Over 7,500MW of power has been added into the national grid after miscreants blew transmission towers near Sibbi, Balochistan, said Secretary Water and Power Younus Dagha on Sunday.
"Transmission towers, 75, 76 in Sibbi were blown by unknown miscreants at 11:53pm on January 24," he said, adding that 7500MW of power has been added into the grid.
While addressing the media, he said reports of an attack were coming in from midnight but since there could be no verification from local administration, the media was not informed about it.
He added that the damage to the 220 kilovolt-Amperes (kVA) transmission lines between Sibbi and Quetta caused a backward surge of power to the Guddu power plant in Sindh, which in turn caused a cascading effect on the entire national grid.
"The entire system was restored by 8:30am in the morning, and now about 7500MW of power is in the national grid," he said. "We are hopeful that we will improve it by tonight."
Earlier, the country's State Minister for Water and Power apologised for inconvenience and said work was under process to restore electricity.
"On the Prime Minister's directive, we are not to sleep till this problem is resolved," he said in a message on Twitter.
“Power supply has been restored from all grid stations,” a National Transmission and Dispatch Company spokesperson told Express News.
The spokesperson added 50% of the power supply in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi had been restored while 40% was restored in Lahore.
“The power supply will be completely restored within two hours,” the spokesperson added.
The power failure, one of the worst in the country has experienced, caused power to be cut in major cities throughout the country, including Islamabad.
RELATED POST: Power breakdown: Nationwide blackout
Earlier in the night, there had been speculation that the system had tripped due to a decline in power production as the country’s power plants run dangerously low on furnace oil supplies. Dagha ruled out this explanation. “We had pushed up power production to 9,500 MW by evening. Even 800MW more of hydroelectric power generation was available.”
Power consumption over the last few days has hovering around the 14,000MW mark. “Before this breakdown we were successfully managing the shortage by carrying out load shedding for industrial consumers,” Dagha said.
"Transmission towers, 75, 76 in Sibbi were blown by unknown miscreants at 11:53pm on January 24," he said, adding that 7500MW of power has been added into the grid.
While addressing the media, he said reports of an attack were coming in from midnight but since there could be no verification from local administration, the media was not informed about it.
He added that the damage to the 220 kilovolt-Amperes (kVA) transmission lines between Sibbi and Quetta caused a backward surge of power to the Guddu power plant in Sindh, which in turn caused a cascading effect on the entire national grid.
"The entire system was restored by 8:30am in the morning, and now about 7500MW of power is in the national grid," he said. "We are hopeful that we will improve it by tonight."
Earlier, the country's State Minister for Water and Power apologised for inconvenience and said work was under process to restore electricity.
"On the Prime Minister's directive, we are not to sleep till this problem is resolved," he said in a message on Twitter.
“Power supply has been restored from all grid stations,” a National Transmission and Dispatch Company spokesperson told Express News.
The spokesperson added 50% of the power supply in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi had been restored while 40% was restored in Lahore.
“The power supply will be completely restored within two hours,” the spokesperson added.
The power failure, one of the worst in the country has experienced, caused power to be cut in major cities throughout the country, including Islamabad.
RELATED POST: Power breakdown: Nationwide blackout
Earlier in the night, there had been speculation that the system had tripped due to a decline in power production as the country’s power plants run dangerously low on furnace oil supplies. Dagha ruled out this explanation. “We had pushed up power production to 9,500 MW by evening. Even 800MW more of hydroelectric power generation was available.”
Power consumption over the last few days has hovering around the 14,000MW mark. “Before this breakdown we were successfully managing the shortage by carrying out load shedding for industrial consumers,” Dagha said.