Power breakdown on Jan 23 occurred due to additional power supply: inquiry report

The inquiry report regarding the power breakdown in Pakistan on January 23 revealed the blackout happened due to the additional supply of power from the South division, holding power control management and shift in-charge responsible behind the occurrence.

The inquiry committee headed by minister of state for petroleum prepared the report disclosing the reason behind massive blackout.

It stated that the fault did not occur due to power shortage, but it happened because additional 600 megawatts (MWs) were added to the system.

After adding additional electricity from Sindh to the system, the high-voltage direct current (HVDC) system in Lahore collapsed, the report said.

The report held officers of National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC), National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA), Power Control Management and shift in-charge responsible for the incident.

Despite HVDC system in Lahore tripping around 300 during the past two years, no one paid attention to the problem; said the report.

It added that the committee should conduct an institutional inquiry against the ones responsible for the biggest ever breakdown.

Besides this, poor coordination among relevant institutions, lack of unity of command, shortage of experts and old technology had also been termed as one of the reasons for blackout.

The report also mentioned the federal government to issue directives to NEPRA for improving coordination among the relevant departments to avoid any such occurrence in the future.