The power transmission system was fully restored in the country till 9pm on Thursday, almost 12 hours after the massive power breakdown, the energy ministry claimed.

“The disturbance, which was reported this [Thursday] morning in two 500kv lines in the south of Karachi was resolved,” the ministry said in a tweet. “Electricity supply is being increased from alternative power plants, which will return to normal by Friday morning.”

However, at least 27 districts of Balochistan were deprived of basic utility till Friday morning.

Sources told Aaj News that electricity started to restore in Hyderabad after eight hours while service was restored in Balochistan’s Nushki and Sindh’s Mirpurkhas after 12 hours.

Earlier in the day, Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir vowed to restore electricity service by 8pm, however, it took more than that in many areas of Karachi.

10 power generating units of Tarbela Dam shut down

At least 10 power-generating units of Tarbela Dam have been shut down, sources told Aaj News. Only seven units of Tarbela Dam were generating electricity.

They added that the administration has increased load shedding timing in order to save the system.

Restoration of electricity by 8pm

Federal Minister for Energy Khurram Dastgir said on Thursday that work for the restoration of electricity in the southern part of the country - following a large-scale power breakdown - would be completed by 8pm.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, the minister confirmed that the power outage had impacted Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Quetta, Multan and Faisalabad.

“Nearly 8,000 MW of power went offline at around 9am,” he said, adding that the government had restored 4,700 MW.

He said that the restarting of power plants was a time-consuming activity. “Complete resolution of the problem will take a few more hours.”

Dastgir said that the problem had been resolved completely in Multan and Faisalabad, and partially in Sukkar, Dadu and Shikarpur.

He said that simultaneous faults in two power lines were a concern and that the government had ordered an inquiry. “We will take action after receiving the inquiry report,” the minister said. “Due to our efforts, the northern part of the country remained unaffected by the breakdown.”

Inquiry ordered

The National Transmission & Despatch Company (NTDC) formed an inquiry committee on the disruption in southern transmission. The committee would report to the energy ministry within four days.

The committee would be headed by Muhammad Mustafa – Lahore general manager (technical) – and comprise Anwar Ahmed Khan, Muhammad Ijaz Khan, and Muhammad Zakaria.

“The committee will be required to determine the root cause of the default, ascertain if the faults leading to the blackout could have been prevented, and verify if measures taken by concerned departments were adequate,” it said in a statement.

Massive Outage

Several cities in Punjab and Sindh, including the commercial hub of Karachi, have lost electricity in a major power breakdown.

A K-Electric spokesperson has said that the utility company responsible for electricity supply to the city was investigating the power loss.

Malir, Surjani, Sadar, Airport, Gulshan Mimar, Federal B Area, Liaquatabad, North Karachi, North Nazimabad, Orangi, Baldia, and Site Industrial areas lost power at around 10am.

Soon after reports of power breakdown were aired by TV channels, correspondents from the interior parts of Sindh reported that cities there were also experiencing a similar outage.

In some Sindh cities, the breakdown started at 6am while Ghokti and some other areas lost power at around 8:30am.

Several cities of Punjab, especially in the southern region, have also lost power.

Rajanpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Multan, Muzafar Garh, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalpur, Vehari, and Khanewal are without electricity.

Cause

“Due to an accidental fault in the country’s southern transmission system, several southern power plants are tripping in phases, which is disrupting the transmission of electricity in the southern part of the country,” the Ministry of Energy said in a tweet.

It said that it was investigating the cause with efforts underway to fully restore power as soon as possible

A statement by the Power Division stated that the outage has affected the southern parts of the country.

Reports say that the power outage was caused by a technical failure at the Guddu Thermal Power Station in the Kashmore district.

The fault reportedly affected the national grid.