dpa
Islamabad
Pakistan’s electricity supply was gradually being restored on Sunday after a massive power outage plunged the country into darkness minutes before midnight.
"The system is stable now and electricity supply has been restored in major cities of the country,” Energy Minister Omar Ayub told reporters.
However, it might take a few more hours to resume the power supply across the whole country, he said.
The minister said a technical fault in the Guddu power plant, a thermal power station in the southern province of Sindh, had triggered the system shutdown around 20 minutes before midnight.
A transmission of 10,302 megawatts of electricity was disrupted when the frequency of the system suddenly dropped from 50 hertz to zero.
All major cities including the capital were hit and it took authorities more than two hours to resume supply in a phased manner.
Investigations are ongoing but the reasons behind the system malfunction are not known, Ayub said.
He said the department was working on improving the power transmission system in the country.
Sunday’s power outage is one of the worst the country has experienced. There had been eight instances of major or partial outages since 2013.
Social media quickly filled with rumours in the immediate moments after the blackout began. Pakistan’s Energy Ministry took to Twitter to urge people to remain calm while authorities worked to restore power.
In 2015, around 80 per cent of the country plunged into darkness after a major power transmission line broke down.
Pakistan has an installed capacity to generate around 36,000 megawatts of power, but the transmission system is in need of an upgrade.
Islamabad
Pakistan’s electricity supply was gradually being restored on Sunday after a massive power outage plunged the country into darkness minutes before midnight.
"The system is stable now and electricity supply has been restored in major cities of the country,” Energy Minister Omar Ayub told reporters.
However, it might take a few more hours to resume the power supply across the whole country, he said.
The minister said a technical fault in the Guddu power plant, a thermal power station in the southern province of Sindh, had triggered the system shutdown around 20 minutes before midnight.
A transmission of 10,302 megawatts of electricity was disrupted when the frequency of the system suddenly dropped from 50 hertz to zero.
All major cities including the capital were hit and it took authorities more than two hours to resume supply in a phased manner.
Investigations are ongoing but the reasons behind the system malfunction are not known, Ayub said.
He said the department was working on improving the power transmission system in the country.
Sunday’s power outage is one of the worst the country has experienced. There had been eight instances of major or partial outages since 2013.
Social media quickly filled with rumours in the immediate moments after the blackout began. Pakistan’s Energy Ministry took to Twitter to urge people to remain calm while authorities worked to restore power.
In 2015, around 80 per cent of the country plunged into darkness after a major power transmission line broke down.
Pakistan has an installed capacity to generate around 36,000 megawatts of power, but the transmission system is in need of an upgrade.