Citizens’ woes due to hours-long load-shedding are set to compound further as one of the units of another major power plant has been shut down after a fire incident.
According to details, a fire broke out at the Unit-II of Guddu Thermal Power Plant on the night of Eid-ul-Azha. As a result, 747 MW of electricity was removed from the national grid.
A four-member team headed by the Chief Engineer is investigating the incident. Initial investigation has revealed that continuous rainfall over Eid inundated the generators that led to the fire.
Although there were no fire extinguishers on the spot, the staff members were not present either due to the Eid holidays. As a result, the national exchequer has incurred a loss of Rs. 15 billion.
The Chief Engineer has said that the investigation team will identify the culprits and take strict action against them. Meanwhile, the repair work is well underway and will take around 1 month to integrate Unit-II back with the national grid.
Earlier this month, Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Station (NJHS) was shut down due to safety reasons after its “tailrace tunnel” got blocked. The tailrace tunnel is a channel through which water flows away from the plant after rotating the turbine.
As a result of the complete closure of NJHS, 969 MW of electricity was removed from the national grid. The process to remove the blockage was started after determining the causes.