ISLAMABAD: A power cut hit Pakistan’s financial hub of Karachi on Wednesday, with K-Electric saying the outage was caused by the breakdown of a connection between the utility and the national grid.
The sweltering metropolis of 23 million people accounts for half of Pakistan’s national revenues and is home to the stock exchange, the central bank and a giant port.
A spokesperson at the Karachi-based utility said power supply to the city was disrupted due to tripping in an extra high tension transmission line after lightning struck a circuit in Jamshoro city.
“This resulted in a disconnection between KE and NTDC [National Transmission & Despatch Company] circuits,” the utility said on Twitter. “KE’s power plants are operating in island mode which has enabled swift restoration of power. Power connections between KE and NTDC have been restored.”
After suffering decades of electricity shortages, Pakistan now has more electrical generating capacity than it needs, dramatically boosted by the large-scale construction of new power plants, largely coal-fired ones funded by China.
But even as supply surges, electric power is still not reaching up to 50 million people in Pakistan who need it, according to a 2018 World Bank report, though expansion of transmission lines is planned. Power outages also remain common.