Pakistan: major power outage; Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar without electricity after breakdown

Large parts of Pakistan faced power outages on 23 January. Major cities including capital Islamabad, Karachi, Quetta, Peshawar, and Lahore reported lack of electricity.

The Ministry of Energy said that the problem was caused by decreasing frequency of the national grid, resulting in a widespread breakdown in the system. The grid went down at 7:34 am.

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Minister Khurram Dastgir said in the morning that power would be fully restored within 12 hours. Speaking to Geo News, he said, "In winter, as the demand for electricity reduces nationwide and as an economic measure, we temporarily close down our power generation systems at night. However, when the systems were turned on in the morning today, frequency variation and voltage fluctuation was observed in the south of the country... somewhere between Dadu and Jamshoro."

Restoration of grid stations in Peshawar and Islamabad had begun, he added.