The difference between city's demand and supply of electricity increased up to 700MW on Monday, following the tripping of another power generating unit of Bin Qasim Power Station (BQPS).
Karachiites suffered from prolonged power outages throughout the metropolis as KESC carried out one-hour duration's load shedding after every hour in most of the areas of the city following the tripping of the unit.
According to sources, the Unit No 4 of BQPS was tripped on late night Sunday due to leakage in its boiler. The unit was generating some 120 MW before going to shut. It is worth noting here that two out of six generating units of BQPS, Unit No 1 and 6, were already closed and under maintenance for last few days due to technical faults. And now, only three units of the station were functioning after the closure of Unit No 4 on Sunday night, sources added.
The supply of near 85 MW to the city from Kanupp has also been suspended for the last four days due to the tripping of the KESC transmission line caused by a fault at its Baldia Grid. The tripped transmission line is still under-maintenance and could not be restored so far, said sources.
Under these circumstances, the KESC is helpless to meet the city's power demands that reached 2400 MW in recent days, the sources said. Following the situation, several areas of the city were remained without electricity for more than 10 hours on Monday.
Even the load shedding is also being carried out in industrial areas for about one to three hours. According to KESC officials, the repairing work is underway on three closed generating units of BQPS while the tripped transmission line would also be restored in next two-three days.