NEPRA seeks report from NTDC over unannounced power outages

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) on Friday has summoned report from National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) over countrywide unannounced power outages.

According to NEPRA’s spokesperson, the NTDC has been asked to submit a detailed report over unscheduled load shedding in the country that has irked the masses.

“People of the country are facing hardships due to unannounced prolonged power outages, concrete steps should be taken to overcome this issue,” the spokesman said.

Several districts in Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab experienced power outages on Thursday as three units of Guddu Thermal Power Plant tripped due to thick fog prevailing in the country nowadays.

According to sources, three units of Guddu Thermal Power Plant tripped resulting an immediate shortfall of 747MW of electricity.

The units will be restored after fog clears, sources added.

Earlier, Punjab faced extended hours of load-shedding as at least four of Pepco’s power plants had closed down owing to smog and other technical faults.

The power supplying company confirmed that the power plants at Guddu, Baloki, Nishat and Nishat Choniyan were tripped resulting an immediate shortfall of 250 MW. In order to tackle the situation, the Pepco announced to temporarily extend the load-shedding duration in the province.

Additional 1000 MW were taken from Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco), Quetta, to manage the shortfall, the authority said, and expressed hopes to normalize the electricity distribution as soon as the technical issues are fixed.

The shortfall led to a power outage after every one hour in Lahore and other parts of Punjab.