Karachi Aug 05: Karachi Electric Supply Company stated that on the night of August 04, two of its 220kv Extra High Tension Transmission (EHT) Circuits tripped unexpectedly. This caused a domino effect, tripping three of its 132kv transmission lines. This unprecedented complex tripping had a cascading effect, which in turn led to automatic tripping of approximately 35%-40% of the Grid Stations supplying power to the city.
The unexpected tripping on the EHT circuits was brought about by the consistently high levels of stagnant humidity on the outskirts of the city where these transmission lines are located. In addition to the then prevailant situation, in the early morning hours of August 05, the Jamshoro Transmission line also went into tripping, which led to the suspension of the 650MW from the NTDC, further adding to and exacerbating the situation of power outage in the city.
KESC's special task teams were mobilized immediately and a state of emergency was declared in KESC's main command and control center. All essential personnel were called on duty and mobilized to contain the situation. KESC's leadership and management team members were on the spot and remained there throughout the night to monitor the situation and ensure the earliest possible resolution to the problem.
Alhamdulillah, the situation was brought under control by the early hours of the morning and majority of the areas were powered up. By noon the entire network was normalized. Unfortunately, during this period of crisis some unscrupulous elements of society committed thefts at a number of substations stealing expensive equipment like bus bars, grips and panels. This has led to isolated consumer issues which are being addressed on war footing.
KESC is grateful to its engineers, workers and management who worked tirelessly through the night to restore power without any unnecessary delay. The power utility also, sincerely tenders an apology to its consumers who suffered on account of this prolonged outage and expresses its gratitude to them for exhibiting patience and understanding during this extra ordinary event.
The utility assures its customers that a thorough review would be conducted to prevent any such recurrence in the future.
