Country endures 14 hour loadsheding this Ramazan as temperatures soar to mid 40s Celsius
Wednesday turned out to be the toughest day so far this summer as mercury rose to mid-40s Celsius in most parts of the country and electricity shortfall exceeded 7,500MW – resulting in over 14 hours of loadshedding in urban areas and even more in rural areas.
By noon, the demand soared to 21,500MW with the generation recorded at 14,700MW. By the peak hours (6pm to 11pm), which included Iftar time, the demand rose by another 1,000MW while generation went up by only 300MW.
It was the most difficult day so far, conceded an official of the Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco). “Things have gone so bad that the Ministry of Water and Power instructed all its companies (generation, transmission and distribution) to stop sharing even routine data with the media. No media releases were issued as the situation went completely out of hand,” he admitted.
“There is simply no solution to the crisis if the statement of the secretary for water and power is to be believed that the system cannot sustain more than 15,000MW and becomes red hot beyond that level,” he said, if that is taken as a benchmark, the disastrous conclusion will be: the system can handle only 15,000MW and the demand has gone beyond 22,000MW.
