ISLAMABAD (The Thursday Times) — Pakistan’s electricity shortfall widened to about 1,500 megawatts on Wednesday as hydropower output fell after the accident at the Tarbela fifth extension project, leaving parts of Punjab, including Lahore, with longer power cuts.
Peak demand was about 16,000MW against available generation of roughly 14,500MW, according to the Independent System and Market Operator, which runs the national grid. It said the gap was being bridged with plants that burn furnace oil.
Tarbela was producing about 1,200MW, some 800MW below its normal level, because less water was available for generation after higher-than-usual releases that followed the incident, the operator said. It said Tarbela’s units had not been completely shut down. Earlier reports had said two units were offline.
Lahore hit hardest
In the Lahore Electric Supply Company region, the shortfall reached about 800MW against demand of 3,100MW, and consumers faced three to four hours of outages, mostly in the evening, according to reports from Lahore.
The Power Division has told all distribution companies to publish their load-shedding schedules so that consumers know when cuts are planned.
The grid operator said distribution companies were following their existing schedules of about one and a half to two hours, and that the system-wide deficit should not be read as the same extra load-shedding everywhere. Load management reached up to three hours on November 10, it said.
Mangla and Jamshoro back
Two units at Mangla Dam that had developed faults have been restored, and the Jamshoro coal-fired plant is back in operation, according to the operator. Limited supplies of imported gas had already led to one to two hours of cuts outside solar hours between November 1 and 6.
On Monday, water flooded a tunnel and the powerhouse site at the Tarbela fifth extension project, and work was halted after the workers were evacuated safely. Wapda has said the dam’s structure is not under threat.
