The National Transmission and Dispatch Company’s (NTDC) inquiry committee, while absolving its own team of responsibility, has identified governance, ownership problems, and poor chain of command for nationwide power breakdown.
In its report, the four-member committee quoted letters written by some of its members for improvement of the electricity generation system and its safety protocols to maintain that the NTDC has been highlighting the system’s weaknesses.
No NTDC’s officer/official has been found negligent for the discharge of his duties, as the event which initiated this widespread breakdown was not in NTDC’s system, rather it was in the 220kv Switchyard of Guddu Old Thermal Power Station under the control of CPGCL (Central Power Generation Company Limited).
ALSO READ
Govt Completes Pakistan Pavilion Building for Expo 2020 Dubai
Moreover, it said the NTDC’s protection system detected the fault accurately and isolated the system timely to avoid any physical damage to any equipment in the system despite a severe prolonged ‘three-phase bolted fault in generation station busbar.’
The report blamed the CPGCL’s chain of command for the problem, especially the ones working at the 747MW Guddu power station where the fault originally occurred. It highlighted the violation of standard operating procedures (SOPs), lack of technical expertise, coordination and teamwork, ownership, and responsibility in the CPGCL.
Necessary steps need to be taken to ensure fast-track completion of the said study. Economically viable power plants need to be installed near the main load center for improved system stability.
ALSO READ
Pakistan Has The 2nd Worst Air Quality in The World: Report
The NTDC further recommended the provision of automatic reactive power compensation equipment in the system.
Automatic reactive power compensation equipment in the system and black start facility is essential and needs to be provided on all power plants near the load center for quick restoration of power supply in case of such major breakdown.
It also recommended reviewing the frequency protection settings of all generating units.
The inquiry blamed the CPGCL’s team for hiding key facts and data recordings, highlighting that someone from Guddu 747 had deleted the data stored in Sequential Event Recorder before the visit of the committee.
