Pakistan facing 8,500 megawatts ‘energy shortfall’ amid sweltering heat

Pakistan is facing around 8,500 megawatts ‘energy shortfall’ amid sweltering heat!

As the shortfall continues, the hours-long outages add to citizens’ misery amidst the scorching and muggy weather.

According to an authoritative source, the country has been grappling with a significant power deficit for the past week, particularly from Thursday onwards, with a shortfall ranging between 5,000MW and 6,000MW.

While the situation worsened on Saturday when the demand surged to a staggering 6,300MW.

According to sources familiar with the matter, the country’s total energy requirement stands at 28,500 megawatts, while it was producing around 20,000 megawatts.

In Punjab’s capital, Lahore Electric Power Company (LESCO) is facing a shortfall of 1,000 megawatts — the demand stands at 5,700 megawatts, and the supply is at 5,700 megawatts, the source added.

While the power generation remained at 22,930MW, including 6,200MW generated by hydropower, nuclear 3,100MW, thermal 12,800MW, and 830MW generated by wind projects.

Due to an alarming deficit, all nine power distribution companies (Discos) have initiated a series of forced load-shedding and load-management measures across both urban and rural areas.