Tag: outage

  • Rural areas in Pakistan are facing up to 10 hours of load shedding due to massive power shortfall

    Rural areas in Pakistan are facing up to 10 hours of load shedding due to massive power shortfall

    Amidst a severe heatwave sweeping across the nation, the persistent electricity crisis shows no signs of relenting, with a power shortfall of 6,000 megawatts being recorded. The demand for electricity stands at 28,500 megawatts, while the actual production amounts to 22,500 megawatts.

    Reports indicate that cities are currently enduring load shedding periods lasting from three to five hours. In rural areas, outages are even more prolonged, stretching from eight to 10 hours, whereas urban regions experience load shedding for approximately two to four hours, according to officials from the power division.

    These officials further emphasise that the duration of load shedding is extended on feeders where there are reports of theft and outstanding recovery of line losses.

    As reported by the power division officials, the electricity production breakdown is as follows: 6,900 megawatts from hydroelectric sources, 10,800 megawatts from private power plants, 1,500 megawatts from thermal sources, and 2,300 megawatts from wind, solar, and nuclear plants.

  • CDA to turn off 50% lights on Islamabad’s roads to save energy

    CDA to turn off 50% lights on Islamabad’s roads to save energy

    Under the federal government’s energy-saving plan, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has decided to turn off 50 per cent of the streetlights in Islamabad.

    However, all the street lights will remain switched on in residential areas for maximum facilitation of the citizens at night, according to CDA spokesperson.

    The CDA is leading the charge to ensure that the government’s effort to save energy through austerity measures is effective. In order to preserve as much energy as possible, the CDA has asked inhabitants of the federal capital to limit their consumption of power in their houses.

  • Millions in Pakistan without electricity after countrywide outage

    Millions in Pakistan without electricity after countrywide outage

    Millions of Pakistanis were left without electricity on Monday due to a nationwide power outage, which threatened to unleash chaos in the South Asian country, which is already experiencing fuel shortages during the winter.

    The country’s Ministry of Energy said in a statement the country’s National Grid went down at 7:34 am local time, “causing a widespread breakdown in the power system,” according to initial reports.

    “System maintenance work is progressing rapidly,” the statement added.

    A “limited number of grids” in Islamabad and Peshawar have had power restored, the ministry said.

    The duration of the power outage is unknown, but attempts are being made to bring power back to various areas of the country.

    The disruption occurs as the country’s frail economy continues to face numerous difficulties, including a serious energy crisis.

    Earlier this month, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered all federal agencies to cut their energy use by 30 per cent. In addition, his administration mandated that all stores and restaurants close at 8:30 pm.

  • Iesco issues two-hour load-shedding plan for Rawalpindi, Islamabad

    Iesco issues two-hour load-shedding plan for Rawalpindi, Islamabad

    All areas of Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Jhelum, Chakwal, Azad Kashmir, Murree, Attock, Pindigheb, Kotli Sattiyan, and other circles will face two hours of load-shedding, according to the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco).

    According to The News, the citizens of these cities have been experiencing regular load-shedding for more than a month that lasts between six and eight hours. Muhammad Tanvir Kiani, who is head of Iesco’s technical division, stated that Iesco has announced a two-hour load-shedding timetable in each of the aforementioned locations.

    He said that the load-shedding schedule would initially last indefinitely until further instruction. Furthermore, he stated that due to an electricity shortage, load-shedding has been implemented in all areas in light of the current situation.

  • WhatsApp down: Users facing problems in sending, receiving messages

    WhatsApp down: Users facing problems in sending, receiving messages

    Numerous users are reporting problems with the app’s text-sending and receiving capabilities, which suggests that WhatsApp may be experiencing a glitch.

    The number of people reporting the outage of WhatsApp has sharply increased, according to Downdetector, a company that measures online outages throughout the world.

    With more than 6,000 reports posted online, Downdetector is reporting a significant increase. Users are upset since their messages are not getting through. The app does not indicate delivery status even when the messages are delivered.

    Several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, and India, have reported the outage.

    Even Twitter users have expressed worries. In the meantime, the most popular hashtag on social media is “WhatsApp Down.”

    “We’re aware that some people are presently having problems sending messages, and we’re working to restore WhatsApp for everyone as quickly as possible,” a spokesman for Meta told media outlets in a statement.

  • Power transmission system ‘fully restored’ after major outage

    Power transmission system ‘fully restored’ after major outage

    Late on Thursday, the Ministry of Energy confirmed that all countrywide power had been “fully restored,” adding that the issue with two 500kV lines in Karachi’s south had been fixed.

    The ministry posted on its official Twitter account, “Electricity supply is being increased from alternative power plants, which will return to normal by Friday morning.”

    According to Dawn, Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir had expressed his optimism that normal electrical service would be fully restored by tonight.

    He reported power outages on Thursday morning in Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Quetta, Multan, and Faisalabad while speaking at a press conference.

    “Karachi and Quetta are priority regions now,” he said. “Nearly 8,000 MW of power went offline at around 9 AM however, the government has restored 4,700 MW,” he announced. “Restarting of power plants will consume time therefore complete resolution of the problem will take a few more hours.”

    He said that a thorough investigation had been ordered and a team had been formed for the purpose, citing the government’s worry regarding simultaneous faults in two power lines at the same time.

    “We will take action after receiving the inquiry report,” the minister said. “Due to our efforts, northern part of the country remained unaffected from the breakdown.”

    According to the Ministry of Energy, a “fault in the country’s southern transmission system” caused a significant power outage on Thursday that affected Sindh and Punjab.

    In addition to Karachi, Hyderabad, Thatta, Jamshoro, Sujawal, Badin, Mirpurkhas, Umarkot, Sanghar, Nawabshah, Matiari, Tharparkar, and Larkana, electricity was also cut off in other parts of Sindh.

    Additionally, there were power outages in a number of Punjabi cities, including Rajanpur and Rahim Yar Khan.

    “Due to an accidental fault in the country’s southern transmission system, several southern power plants are tripping in stages, which is disrupting the transmission of electricity in the southern part of the country,” said the Ministry of Energy in a tweet post.

    “The Ministry of Energy is diligently investigating the cause of the outage and the power system will be fully restored as soon as possible,” it added.

    According to reports, a technical issue has caused the Guddu Thermal Power Station in Kashmore to stop producing electricity. Technical issues at the power plant prevent the 600MW and 747MW units from running.

    The 500-KV system nationwide is not functioning, according to sources at National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC). They claimed that the causes are still being determined.

    The southern port city’s many neighbourhoods, including Malir, Sarjani Town, and Saddar, experienced power outages. Since 10:00 am, there has been no electricity in these neighbourhoods.

    Furthermore, there were power disruptions in places including Gulshan-e-Maymar, Federal B Area, Liaquatabad, and Super Highway.

    Baldia, Orangi Town, North Nazimabad, and North Karachi are all without electricity. In addition to this, some locations, notably the SITE Industrial Area, lack electricity.

    “There are reports of multiple outages from different parts of the city,” Imran Rana, Spokesperson, K-Electric, said in a tweet post.

    “We are investigating the issue and will keep this space posted,” he added.

    According to information provided by the Ministry of Energy, the KE’s spokesperson verified that the halt in energy supply was caused by a failure in the southern transmission system in an update released about 11:45am.

    He said that efforts to restore the supply had begun, and it would take about five hours to finish the process.

  • Here’s why the internet was down in Pakistan last night

    Here’s why the internet was down in Pakistan last night

    The internet services in Pakistan suffered another disruption on Monday night. Services of almost all of the major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) were disrupted. Services were suspended in Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Lahore around 11:10pm and remained suspended until 1:20am.

    “A nation-scale internet disruption has been registered in Pakistan; the incident affects multiple providers including PTCL, Nayatel and StormFiber with real-time network data showing connectivity at 38% of an ordinary level,” NetBlocks said in a tweet.

    Why was the internet down?

    Sources in PTCL said the internet fibre cables suffered damage due to heavy rains in Sukkur areas. “They said rainwater had entered the PTCL exchange causing electricity to short-circuit. The company expects the repair work to be completed by Tuesday morning,” reports Dawn.

    This was the second major disruption of internet services in less than a week. Last week, internet services were affected on Friday (August 19).

  • Google apologises after software update causes outage

    Google apologises after software update causes outage

    According to outage tracker Downdetector, tens of thousands of users reported being unable to access several Google services on Monday night.

    Google Maps has been having issues since 9:36 PM EDT (0136 GMT), according to a tweet from Downdetector.

    More than 40,000 users reported problems using Google’s services, primarily the maps and search engine, including in New York City and Denver, Colorado.

    A small number of customers continued to report issues using Google’s cloud and calendar services after the outage had been reported for about two hours, according to Downdetector.

    “We’re aware of a software update issue that occurred late this afternoon Pacific Time and briefly affected availability of Google Search and Maps, and we apologize for the inconvenience,” a Google spokesperson said.

    “We worked to quickly address the issue and our services are now back online.”

    Some individuals who attempted to use Google tweeted screenshots of the ‘500 error’ notice on Twitter, which said the server had “encountered an error and could not complete your request.”