K-Electric hopes load-shedding will reduce by May 20

KARACHI: K-Electric has been unable to fix Bin Qasim Power Station-II as the required crucial spare part for its mending, weighing 41 tonnes, arrived here from Holland on Wednesday (today), ARY News reported.

A spokesperson of the power utility has said that the plant repairing will be completed by May 20. KE has forwarded a request to the federal government to provide extra 150MW of electricity until the fault is repaired completely.

After the issues of shortage of gas and furnace oil, KE has now come up with a new problem of having a technical fault in Bin Qasim power plant, as a new reason of recent power crisis, which has added to the woes of already-distressed citizens.

The residents of Karachi are extremely anguished by the prolonged and unscheduled power outages in the city when the holy month of Ramazan is also just around the corner. Consistently-hot weather has further made the situation miserable for the people.

Karachi is currently facing a shortfall of 600MW-700MW due to the Bin Qasim plant breakdown. The KE spokesperson claimed that the repair of the power plant will significantly help to reduce electricity issues.

He said that experts have been flown in from abroad to help with the repairs of the power plant and the installation of the spare part. The repairs are being done under the supervision of KE’s chief generation and transmission officer, who travelled from Karachi to Holland to bring in the spare part.

Heavy and unannounced load-shedding has been reported in various parts of Karachi including Liaquatabad, Malir, Orangi Town, Lines Area, Landhi, Shah Faisal Colony, and adjoining areas.

Earlier, KE and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) were in a dispute over gas supply, which was resolved after intervention of the federal government.