Massive breakdown: Power supply across country will be restored in next few hours: Ayub

****(Karachi) Federal Minister for Energy Omar Ayub Khan has said that the power supply will be completely restored across the contry within next few hours, local media reported.**

Addressing a press conference alongside Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz on Sunday, the energy minister said a technical fault was reported at the Gaddu power plant at 11:41pm last night when the frequency fell from 50 to zero in seconds.

“We energised Tarbela power plant twice which initiated the restoration process," he said, adding that electricity has been restored in Islamabad, Faisalabad, Jhang, Multan while K-Electric has been provided 400MV.

“The previous governments focussed on power generation but did not upgrade transmission system,” said Faraz. “Now, we are focussing on transmission and distribution of power.”

He said the power breakdown occurred when the frequency in the national power distribution system (NTDC) suddenly fell from 50 to zero. He added that the matter is being investigated and the attempts are being made to restart the Tarbela Power Station to restore supply.

Ayub said he is personally supervising the restoration work and has been periodically sharing restoration updates on his Twitter account.

He maintained that power has been restored at all Gujranwala Electric Power Company (Gepco) stations, restoring supply in Gujrat and Mandi Bahauddin districts. Besides, power supply has also been restored at the 500kv Rawat-Naukhar circuit and the 500kv Tarberla-Rawat circuit.

Omar Ayub said 132kv grid stations around Lahore have been energised including Shadman, Qartaba, Mc Leod Road, Gulshan Ravi, Fort, Saidpur, Shamke, Sagihan, Ravi, Bund Road, Badami, bagh, Sabzar, Sheikhupura, Orient, and Sapphire.

In Karachi, power has been restored at Federal B Area, Landhi, Malir, North Karachi, some areas along Shahra e Faisal, Valika society, and some parts of Baloch Colony.

Meanwhile, the power supply remains suspended in most districts of Balochistan including Quetta city.

As per details, a countrywide power breakdown occurred minutes before midnight across the country with citizens taking to social media to report outages. As outages hit cities, mobile and internet services were also affected.

Omar Ayub Khan released a statement following sudden countrywide power outage earlier Saturday saying the distribution line frequency dropped from 50 to zero.

“We are trying to diagnose the technical issue behind dip in line frequency,’ Omar Ayub Khan said on Twitter. All the technical teams have reached their relevant stations, he said, stressing that he is personally overseeing the diagnosis and power restoration bid.

Cities across Pakistan, including Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Peshawar Quetta, and others plunged into darkness on Saturday after a massive power breakdown.

"When a large plant trips, the voltage, and frequency drops instantly. Plants that are on the system, are designed to automatically open breakers and isolate themselves to avoid damage. Now they will have to bring them back one by one," an anonymous WAPDA source told Business Recorder.

Ministry of Energy in a Tweet confirmed that the power breakdown was countrywide and occurred due to a technical fault in the national transmission line. The tweet also said that efforts were underway to restore electricity.