The Federal Minister for Energy, Omar Ayub Khan in a press conference said that teams are working on ground and power will be restored across the country in a few hours. He was accompanied by Shibli Faraz, the Federal Minister of Information and Technology.
According to Omar Ayub, the technical fault was reported at Gaddu plant at 11:41pm on Saturday night when frequency fell from 50 to 0 in a matter of seconds. As a result 10,302 MW electricity was completely lost from the system. He further said that due to heavy fog the teams still haven’t been able to find the technical fault.
“We energised Tarbela power plant twice which initiated the restoration process, adding that electricity has been restored in Islamabad, Faisalabad, Jhang, Multan while K-Electric has been provided 400MV,” said Omar Ayub.
He further said,”teams on ground are facing difficulties due to heavy fog and the exact reason behind the technical fault will be identified once the fog settles down. The reason for the breakdown has not been ascertained yet. The technical fault occurred in a particular area.”
Both Shibli Faraz and Omar Ayub criticised the policies of previous governments that they only focused on the power generation and completely neglected the transmission and distribution side of it.
“Under the government of PML-N, the country saw eight major power breakdowns. When the incumbent government assumed office, no work had been done to upgrade transmission system,” Shibli said.
He further said, “We are investing in transmission and distribution system. A $6 billion transmission line has been laid in Matiari. The previous governments focused on power generation but did not upgrade transmission system. Now, we are focusing on transmission and distribution of power.”
