Electricity shortfall surged on Wednesday leading to a mysterious power breakdown in various cities across Pakistan.
The power consumers in various parts of the country, including Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Gujranwala, faced a major power breakdown. The shortfall also triggered up to 10 hours of loadshedding in different areas.
According to sources in the Ministry of Energy, the country is facing an electricity shortfall as it is undergoing a liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply crisis alongside the shortage of water in the country’s two main water reservoirs, Mangla and Terbela.
Sources said the Ministry of Energy could not arrange fuel for LNG-based power generation plants as the LNG supplying company Gunvor had refused to deliver LNG cargoes because of an uncertain international situation, forcing Pakistan to acquire LNG from the spot market.
As per the available data, live storage at Tarbela Dam has reduced to its minimum or dead level and it is only 0.38 million acre-feet at Mangla Dam, which has significantly reduced the electricity generation from the said dams leading to a surge in electricity shortfall.
