Power outages galore as shortfall exceeds 6,000MW

•Officials say system ‘ill-equipped’ to bear ‘huge load’ as demand reaches 30,000MW

LAHORE: People across Pakistan have been hit by a double whammy of extremely hot weather and prolonged power outages, with many distribution companies (Discos) resorting to observe loadshedding after the power shortfall crossed 6,000 megawatts on Saturday.

In urban areas, three to six hours of loadshedding was reported while rural areas of the country experienced up to 12 hours of outages.

In addition to scheduled outages, brownouts (tripping, fluctuation, low voltage etc) caused by the overloaded transmission and distribution system also forced load management.

Similarly, shutdowns on the pretext of maintenance also continued, making people’s lives miserable as they braved the hot and humid weather. As reliance on air conditioners increased amid intense heat, the power demand touched 30,000MW during peak hours — the highest demand in the country’s history so far.

Officials say system ‘ill-equipped’ to bear ‘huge load’ as demand reaches 30,000MW

“On Friday, the peak demand touched 30,000MW,” a senior official told Dawn on Saturday. “Our shortfall, if we deduct the deficit on which we observe loadshedding in areas falling within service jurisdiction of high-loss electricity feeders (power theft areas), reaches 2,500MW maximum,” the official maintained.

According to another official source, the total shortfall the country has been facing for the past week, especially since Thursday onwards, ranges between 5,000MW and 6,000MW. However, the demand reached 6,300MW on Saturday.

“In fact, as a policy matter, the loadshedding being observed on the high-loss feeders (category 1 to 6), is not considered as loadshedding. Actually, it is considered a punishment for power thieves. That is why, a major chunk of power shortfall affects such areas under this policy,” he maintained.

Amid such a major shortfall, regions with no or minimal losses get electricity for most hours, he said, adding that areas falling in service jurisdiction of less-loss or no-loss feeders are facing load shedding for [up to] three hours in urban areas,“ he clarified.

But the primary issue is the increased demand caused by the excessive use of air conditioners and the overloading of the system especially when it was “weak to bear such a huge load”. He said during the previous government, Discos could not procure material in time which was the reason the power system could not work smoothly in such hot weather.

“This is why the system is facing stress, leading to brownouts in major cities, including Lahore. The situation is worst in rural areas where residents are facing 12 to 16 hours of load shedding,” he added.

When contacted, an official of the power division said the total generation on Saturday remained at 22,930MW, including 6,200MW generated by hydropower, nuclear 3,100MW, thermal 12,800MW, and 830MW generated by wind projects.

Gas-fired plants active

According to a source in the petroleum ministry, all gas-fired plants were working to meet the shortfall. “The SNGPL is supplying 700mcfd to all state-owned gas-fired power plants, including Bhikki, Haveli Bahadur Shah and Balloki thermal power plants. Some private plants are also being supplied gas,” the source claimed.

The official said the shortfall was due to the plants operated on diesel and furnace oil which were not operational at present for being the “last category of merit order” for the power generation in the country.

According to a source in Wapda, the total hydel generation in peak hours remained at 6,000M: over 2,800MW, 1,210MW, 1,150MW, 230MW by Tarbela, Tarbela-4th Extension, Ghazi Barotha, and Mangla hydel power stations, respectively. “There is no generation by the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project due to rehabilitation works.”

Mangla’s power generation is low at the moment because the water was being used by Irsa for irrigation, he added.

When contacted, a spokesperson for the Power Division declined to share any data related to the demand, generation, and shortfall.

“It is difficult to tell about the shortfall as it is a ‘sensitive figure’ as well as [it is] quite fluctuating. She said the data would be shared with Dawn after getting it from the departments concerned.