ISLAMABAD: The Power Division on Saturday indirectly held the Petroleum Division responsible for prolonged electricity outages across the country, attributing the situation to a shortage of Re-Gasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) required to operate three RLNG-based power plants in Punjab.
Well-informed sources said the shortage emerged after Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) was forced to procure RLNG from the spot market following suspension of its contracted gas supplies from Qatar due to a force majeure situation. The delayed arrival of an RLNG cargo further aggravated the fuel shortage and adversely affected electricity generation.
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The entire country has reportedly been facing electricity outages ranging from six to sixteen hours, particularly in areas affected by generation and transmission constraints. The situation has been compounded by the inability to transmit the entire available generation from the southern parts of the country to the northern regions because of the limited capacity of the transmission network.
However, Power Division said that temporary load management of around 1.5 to 3 hours was carried out during nighttime peak hours because of the unavailability of RLNG and the delayed arrival of an RLNG cargo.
The Power Division said electricity generation declined by around 3,600 MW due to the non-availability of RLNG. At the same time, generation from the Mangla hydropower project also decreased by around 195 MW, further widening the gap between electricity supply and demand.
The combined reduction in generation necessitated temporary load management during the night peak hours to maintain balance between electricity demand and available supply, the Power Division explained.
To partially bridge the generation shortfall, furnace oil-based power plants were also brought into operation during peak hours. However, the availability of alternative generation remained insufficient to completely offset the loss of RLNG-based generation, particularly given the transmission constraints restricting the movement of electricity from the south to the north.
The Power Division said the temporary load management would be reduced as soon as RLNG cargoes arrived and electricity generation improved.
The development comes at a time when electricity demand rises significantly during nighttime peak hours, putting additional pressure on the already constrained power generation and transmission system. The temporary reduction in generation from RLNG-based plants therefore necessitated measures to balance the system and avoid a larger mismatch between supply and demand.
The Power Division urged electricity consumers to exercise restraint in the use of electricity during nighttime peak hours, particularly during periods of high demand, so that load management could be kept to a minimum.
Power Division clarified that there was no load management during day-time hours on account of the RLNG-related generation shortfall. However, consumers in areas where load management was being carried out because of high distribution losses were being supplied electricity according to the prescribed schedule.
A spokesperson for the Power Division said: “There was no load management during daytime hours. However, in areas where load management was being carried out due to high losses, electricity was being supplied according to the prescribed schedule.”
The Power Division also expressed regret to electricity consumers over the temporary load management during nighttime hours, attributing it to the unavailability of RLNG.
Officials said improvement in the electricity supply situation would depend largely on the timely arrival of RLNG cargoes and restoration of generation from the affected RLNG-fired power plants. Once adequate fuel supplies are restored, the temporary load management is expected to ease accordingly.
The episode has once again highlighted the vulnerability of Pakistan’s power generation system to disruptions in fuel supplies, particularly for RLNG-based plants, as well as the limitations of the existing transmission network in transferring available electricity between different regions of the country.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026