Loadshedding rears its head as fuel stocks dip
ISLAMABAD: While the federal government has already announced it has overcome electricity shortage, power loadshedding returned with a bang on Tuesday when the mercury rose to 49 degrees centigrade in some parts of the country and transmission system and power plants tripped amid falling fuel stocks.
For the power shortfall, which exceeded 5,000 megawatts, the energy ministry’s power division looking after the national grid and distribution system attributed the revival of power outages to unavailability of Balloki, Bhikki, Haveli Bahadur Shah power plants, four nuclear plants, Neelum-Jhelum and other hydropower stations.
Officials in the petroleum division of the ministry of energy said it was just the beginning as furnace oil stocks were at a very low level and the oil shipments due to the belated permission given by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi might not arrive before May 3.
Published in Dawn, 2nd May, 2018