The latest near-countrywide power breakdown happened at exactly the same place where multiple such events occurred over the years. The point at the Guddu thermal power station is a crucial junction in the national grid, from where transmission lines go out in three directions, towards the south, north, and west in the direction of Quetta.
The region itself is a desert, with hot and humid temperatures in the summers and prone to powerful gusts of wind. The electricity distribution system in a nation of more than 210 million people is a complex and delicate web, and a problem in one section of the grid can lead to cascading breakdowns countrywide.
The blackout was triggered by a sudden drop in the frequency of the power transmission system from 50 to 0 in less than a second. Meanwhile, Energy Minister Omar Ayub termed the power failure ‘a cascading effect’ that shut down the power system, choking about 10,320 megawatts of electricity.
As expected, the Energy Minister blamed the previous government for the happening, saying that such technical faults occur due to outdated system as no attention was paid towards the improvement of the transmission system on modern lines.
The breakdown that caused a massive power outage for most of the day is an obvious example of incompetence. The power bureaucracy is in dire need of reform, which should begin with replacing incompetent and irrelevant officers in positions of authority with properly credentialed professionals.
In similar situations in the past, the bureaucracy will move to save its skin the same way it has done in past by fabricating the inquiry report. Such technology exists that can help prevent cascading effects of tripping in one section of the grid from knocking out all other power plants.
The government should take serious measures in this regard to prevent such happenings in the future or the result will be repeated tripping at the same point in the grid, and endless blackouts across the country.
