Pakistan

Tripping of transmission lines, power plants plunge parts of Sindh, Balochistan into darkness

As Bin Qasim was being brought back online, Hub and Jamshoro power plants along with \500KV NTDC power lines tripped

Saad Hasan/web Desk July 07, 2015

II Chundrigar road is seen plunged into darkness due to a long breakdown in Karachi. PHOTO: ONLINE

KARACHI: What started as a tripping of a 220 kilovolt (KV) power line from Bin Qasim power plants in Karachi, cascaded into tripping of two other major power plants in the region to plunge parts of Sindh and Balochistan into darkness, Express News reported.

A broken conductor on a 220 KV power line transmitting electricity from the Bin Qasim power plants casued the line, and then subsequently the plants to trip on Tuesday evening. The fault caused the 560MW power plants to be shut down, as repairs were made to the transmission line.

The tripping and the plant shutdown plunged large parts of Karachi into darkness.

Outage prolonged due to National Grid tripping. Teams making alternate arrangements to normalise the situation. pic.twitter.com/WK07jL82Cm
— KE (@KElectricPk) July 7, 2015

Blackout in Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Badin, Nawabshah & parts of Balochistan due to tripping of Hubco/Jamshoro. @KElectricPk
— Usama Qureshi (@UsamaQureshy) July 7, 2015

After working on repairs for over seven hours, the transmission and the plants were being brought back online when it caused a cascading effect in the system, causing the HubCo power plant, the 660MW Jamshoro power plant and the 500KV National Transmission and Distribution Company (NTDC) line from the national grid, to trip.

This plunged large parts of Sindh and Balochistan into darkness, with reports that the cascading effect had also affected grids as far away as Peshawar.

In Sindh, the second tripping caused blackouts in Karachi, Hyderabad, Thatta, Kotri, Mirpurkhas, Badin and Nawabshah. Hub, Lasbela among some other areas in Balochistan also suffered blackouts. K-Electric spokesperson said that their teams were working to restore power, adding that alternative arrangements for power were also being made.

Earlier, large parts of Karachi plunged into darkness on Tuesday evening after the main power line from Bin Qasim Power plant tripped.

A spokesperson for K-Electric power supply company explained that a conductor on the main 220 KV transmission line broke, causing the extra high tension line to trip. Its ripple effect caused Bin Qasim’s power plants to trip and shut down, creating a power deficit of 560 megawatts (MW).

The official added that their engineers were analysing the situation to start repairs, but they could not provide a timeline for when power would be restored.

Talking to The Express Tribune, the K-electric spokesperson said that such a trip was unusual.

The plant's shut down caused a power break down in many parts of city including Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Malir, Korangi, Landhi, Defence, Saddar, FB Area, Tariq road.

Till the filing of this report, the power supply could not be restored in the affected areas.

For the past few weeks, the power infrastructure of Karachi has been under stress due to rising demand for power, forcing K-electric to operate at full load. The k-electric was already stretched due to the growing gap between consumption and supply.

COMMENTS (16)

Jawed Saleem | 9 years ago | Reply God said, 'Let there be light'. But KElectricPk said, He would have to wait until "power/normalcy is restored".

salman siddiqui | 9 years ago | Reply KE has last week raised tariff for domestic consumers significantly, however, the consumers are provided no relief at all. Sham on KE and its management. The system would continue tripping till the power distribution network is fixed.

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Anum | 9 years ago | Reply k electric is totally distracted in Ramzan month the government and all authorities gonna mad They are make people angry and sufferer. Pls at one time remove all power station u don,t need to repair because u need to take a rest . Karachi is big city its not a village it's need all facilities to more progress and development .

Junaid | 9 years ago | Reply There is no electricity in nawabshah from last night 1.am. But authorities aren't giving any reason or any time for restoration of power. ALLAH should help us & remove this govt soon.

Hari Om | 9 years ago | Reply One way to ensure uninterrupted power supply for Punjab Province during Ramadan is to divert electricity meant for Sindh and Balochistan Provinces by claiming “broken conductor” and other lame excuses technical fault is preventing supply of electricity to these two unfortunate provinces.

ZAK | 9 years ago | Reply K electric is in fact Killer electric who are indirectly responsible for killing of 5000 people in Khi. Such a Metropolitan city being made hostage by mafias. K electric lack technical expertise to run such a large network. Also call some experts.

Hatim | 9 years ago | Reply The fruits of democracy.

Zain | 9 years ago | Reply Being in the power transmission sector myself, I think it's unreasonable to suggest that K-electric and it's management is responsible for the power outage unless the event is thoroughly investigated. Why did the conductor break? It's also a potential safety hazard which can cause death! This shouldn't be happening. Did it happen due to a poor asset health or due to overloading of the circuit? Both can be down to poor planning of the transmission/distribution system. Have they been providing connections that couldn't be supported? Has K-electric invested in reinforcing their assets? It's not the first time this transmission line connection Bin Qasim power plant has tripped. Overloading of the circuit can be also be down to power theft. I'm not quite sure of the dynamics here. Is K-electric supposed to ensure this doesn't happen or is the government responsible as well? Someone needs to answer these questions. You can keep going around in circles playing the blame game but this isn't going to help the consumer. The regulatory authority, perhaps, needs to ask these questions.

Hassan Y | 9 years ago | Reply No electricity in North Nazimabad from iftar till sehri and still no sign of hope. K Electric is not justified in their performance. Private companies are required to step in to ease the pain of citizens. Electricity mafia na khappay. !

Talking Point | 9 years ago | Reply @ZAK: 100 million ? No wonder demand planning is in shambles.

harry potter | 9 years ago | Reply ZAK. Get over it.... do you really think 50 years of incompetence can get resolved in 5 weeks? You muggles need to be the solution yourselves.

Sukaina | 9 years ago | Reply Terrible. Although weather is pleasant till early evening but unfortunately in late evening it started becoming humid & how to work in MAH E RAMADAN without bijli. Well its just cruelness of KE

Abdul Alaam | 9 years ago | Reply The company has not missed any opportunity of minting money at the cost of it's customers and proved it is above all rules. We the poor people of Karachi will continue to suffer at the hands of corporate wolves as our governments least care about us.

Parvez | 9 years ago | Reply K-electric needs to pull-up-its socks ........ hot weather is no excuse for poor service. If you'll are not careful you too will suffer the same fate as the PTI .......those that once praised you will either remain silent or abuse you.

Phase 2 | 9 years ago | Reply No electricity in phase 2 dha

ZAK | 9 years ago | Reply Weather in Khi is very pleasant.No question of overloading.K electric mafia is in action in response to investigation being under way. There are dual circuit transmission lines. Break of one conductor should not cause long breakdown. Some body should be accountable for creating trouble for around 100 million residents of Khi. Until mafias are eradicated Pakistan cannot progress. There are mafias present in every departments.ln fact these are black sheeps who are against development in country. Federal Minister for Electricity should take notice of situation immediately

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