Pakistan facing severe power crunch even on Ramzan

Apr 22, 2022

Islamabad [Pakistan], April 22 : Amidst the ongoing political and economical unrest in Pakistan, fuel scarcity in the country is also raising concerns, leading to severe power outages for continuous hours even during the holy month of Ramadan.
Urban centers of Pakistan, namely Karachi, Lahore, and Rawalpindi are facing power crunches lasting up to 4-10 hours while rural areas suffer from no electricity for up to 10-12 hours, reported Geo News.
Citizens of Pakistan are devasted by the load sheddings during the time of iftari to sehri.
Although Pakistan has installed several power plants with a capacity to contain about 39,000 MW of electricity, there is a minimum electricity production of about 12,000 MW during the daytime while around 16,000 MW of electricity is produced at peak hours starting from iftari to sehri, reported Geo News.
According to a power division official, "The less production of hydropower in the wake of no improvement in water flows into the system and no rain spell coupled with an increase in demand of electricity, because of a surge in mercury, which has increased to 19,000MW at peak hours, have also aggravated the electricity availability crisis. However, the demand during the daytime stands at 16,000 MW."
Although Wapda has the installed capacity to generate electricity of 9,400 MW, the hydro generation currently stands at 4,700 MW. The lack of improvement in water flows has caused the Tarbela Dam to generate an average of 762 MW of electricity, cited, the water resources ministry as reported by Geo News.
Apart from that Liberty Power Plant, Nandi Power Plant, two units of Jamshoro Power House, and others alike are also facing similar issues.