Rawat 500KV grid station: power supply to twin cities suspended due to tripping

Power supply to areas of Rawalpindi and Islamabad including Pak Secretariat on Monday remained suspended due to tripping at Rawat 500KV grid station. "There was tripping at Rawat 500KV grid station due to which new Ghakkar 500KV grid station tripped," said a Power Division spokesperson soon after blackout in twin cities.
National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has already taken serious notice of the recent massive tripping that caused power outage in large parts of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa twice this month as well as the prevailing situation with respect to poor performance of NTDC's transmission network. The federal secretariat also remained without power for about 30 minutes which raised eyebrows over the performance of power sector especially during Ramazan.
However, according to the spokesman, the system overcame tripping and was safe and running. He said teams have been mobilised to restore the grid stations.
At 21:11 pm, the spokesperson said that power had been restored to most of the areas of Islamabad and Rawalpindi after energizing both grids.
However, at 1:26 pm, tripping occurred at Rawat 500KV grid station only whereas the remaining system continued to run smoothly and at 1.51 pm the Rawat grid station was restored. Secretary Power Division, Yousuf Naseem Khokhar has gone on two weeks leave after the recent massive tripping that led to power outages in KP, Punjab and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
The sources said Minister for Power Division Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari and Secretary are not comfortable with each other due to which the secretary opted to stay away from the ministry during the remaining days of incumbent minister.
According to sources, the officials of Power Division are sending files directly to the minister in the absence of the secretary. Some of the officials feared that some politically motivated decisions may be taken in the ministry due to the absence of secretary Power, who resisted such moves.