Pakistan is in a blackout, as the energy ministry reports. The major blackout hit Pakistan early on Monday morning due to a failure in the country’s national electricity infrastructure.
The largest metropolis, Karachi, Islamabad, and other significant cities, including Lahore and Peshawar, also lost power.
Power minister Khurrum Dastagir blamed a “frequency fluctuation” in southern Pakistan for the grid outage.
Power would be restored quickly, he promised, because this was “not a serious catastrophe.”
The energy ministry released a statement saying that the grid “suffered a loss of frequency that caused a serious breakdown.” This occurred at around 07:30 local time (02:30 GMT), and “rapid action” was underway to restore service.
According to Mr. Dastagir, who spoke with Geo TV, power has been restored to some grids in the country. Furthermore, it will be restored nationwide within 12 hours.
The grid temporarily closed at night
During the colder months, “as an economic measure, we temporarily turn down our power-producing systems at night,” he explained.
He informed the TV station that early morning power on in southern Pakistan revealed “frequency variance and voltage fluctuation” between Dadu and Jamshoro, prompting “power generating units to shut down one by one.”
Traffic lights and fans will be turned off nationwide.
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Load shedding is widespread in Pakistan. Therefore, many people there are accustomed to dealing with unpredictable power outages.
Many commercial and residential buildings are equipped with backup generators to keep operations going in the event of an electrical outage.
No major harm was done due to Pakistan Blackout
Lady Reading Hospital officials in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province’s capital, told the BBC that despite the power outage, the hospital’s emergency wards and intensive care units were unaffected since generators were utilized to power them.
While large institutions like hospitals and factories might have backup generators that can keep the lights on for several days, smaller facilities and houses might not be as well prepared.
Last month, in an effort to reduce electricity costs, the government mandated that all stores and marketplaces be closed at their regular times every day.
Pakistan has been importing fossil fuels for power generation, and its foreign currency reserves have been decreasing.
The country’s already diminishing finances were further stressed by the increase in global energy costs last year.
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