Pakistan: Electricity Supply Fully Restored After Massive Blackout

Pakistan has announced the restoration of power supply across the country after it was hit by a nationwide power outage Monday morning.

The nationwide outage was reportedly caused by the breakdown of the country’s national grid system, leaving over 220 million people without power.

However, in a post on Twitter on Tuesday sighted by energynewsafrica.com, the Pakistani Ministry of Energy wrote: “All 1112 grid stations within 24 hours nationwide.”

Addressing the press on Tuesday, Pakistani Energy Minister, Khurram Dastgir blamed the power outage on a lack of investment in the network, saying the aid-dependant nation had “learned lessons” from the breakdown that left millions of people without electricity.

“We learned lessons from yesterday (Monday) that we need to invest in the distribution system,” he said.

“There hasn’t been any investment in improving these systems from the previous government,” he added.

The International Monetary Fund has bailed out Pakistan five times in the last two decades. Its latest bailout tranche, however, is stuck due to differences with the government over a programme review that should have been completed in November.

Pakistan has enough installed power capacity to meet demand, but the sector is so heavily in debt that it cannot afford to invest in infrastructure and power lines.

China has invested in its power sector as part of a $60 billion infrastructure scheme that feeds into its “Belt and Road” initiative, but details of this investment are unclear.

Dastgir said the cause of the outage was not yet known, but the ministry was conducting a safety audit of the entire network.

“The government plans to add more power distribution lines within the next 36 months,” he added.

Millions of Pakistanis suffer partial blackouts almost daily, including scheduled “load shedding” power outs aimed at conserving electricity.

Source: https://energynewsafrica.com