ISLAMABAD - The electricity shortfall has once again risen and the Discos have resorted to extra unscheduled loadshedding in the country.
The electricity shortfall has reached 6,000 to 7,000MW and the areas with five percent losses which were early exempted from loadshedding are facing up to five hours outages, official sources told The Nation. The feeders with more than 10 percent losses are facing extra unscheduled loadshedding.
However, spokesman for the Energy Ministry said the Power Division minister directed the authorities concerned to prioritise Category-I feeders across the country in terms of electricity supply.
Reduction in hydle generation, tripping of Chashma power plants and delay in the commissioning of three RLNG-based power plants with the combined generation capacity of 3,600MW have further increased the demand-supply gap.
According to the official spokesman, the shortfall is around 3,500MW. According to him, 220KV NTDC high transmission circuits, 220KV Daudkhel, 220KV Bannu, 220KV Ludewala and Chashnupp power plants (1,200MW) tripped Tuesday at 1:30am resulting in supply failure from these plants
The spokesman says supply to these power plants i.e. C1, C2, C3 & C4 has been restored and 220KV NTDC lines have been energised. However, the restoration of generation from these plants will take some time as a definite protocol has to be followed. As the latest information shared by the management of Chashnup C-1 and C-2 were expected to be back after Tuesday evening, the status of C-3 and C-4 is not yet clear.
It is also added that RLNG-based power plants Haveli Bahadar Shah, Bhikki and Balloki (3,600MW) are also under testing phases and generation form these plants is currently not available. The source says insurance of these power plants is one of the reasons in the operationalisation of these plants.
The hydel generation is also low as the water release from reservoirs on the provinces’ demand is low while new plants at Neelum-Jhelum are still in testing phase and have not started commercial operations. Keeping in view these unavoidable facts, the national grid is facing temporary shortfall which is varying with the variation of demand, especially during peak and off peak hours, the spokesman states.
In order to keep the system safe and bridge the demand and supply gap, temporary load management of a few hours is being introduced in all distribution companies. The introduction of load management by the Discos is proportional to the feeders’ losses.
The consumers are being informed via SMS, local sub divisional offices, Roshan Pakistan App and others means regarding the load management in their areas.
The minister for Power Division, the minister of state, the power secretary, NPCC and Pepco teams are closely monitoring the situation and are in close contact with management of these plants. The consumers will be immediately provided with relief as soon as any plant starts generation.
The Power Division has appealed to the consumers to adopt energy conservation practices during this temporary phase so that maximum consumers get lesser number of electricity interruptions.
An emergency meeting in this regard was held late in the evening with Federal Minister for Power Division Sardar Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari in the chair to discuss the matters relating to electricity situation in the country.
The Power Division minister directed the authorities to make maximum efforts to provide relief to the consumers. He also directed them to prioritise Category I feeders across the country in terms of electricity supply and the temporary shortfall of electricity due to trippings and testing of plants should be distributed among those other than Category I feeders. Category I feeders form 61% of total feeders in the country.
The minister further said no rural-urban divide should be observed in terms of category of feeders. He also directed the authorities to closely monitor the situation and maintain close coordination with the power plants management to bring the generation online within the shortest possible time.
