Govt apologises for ‘temporary’ night-time loadshedding due to unavailability of RLNG

The government on Saturday apologised to consumers for electricity loadshedding during the night, attributing it to the unavailability of regasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG), and assured them that load management would be reduced “as soon as” the delayed RLNG cargoes arrived.

In a statement, the Power Division spokesperson said temporary load management of 1.5 to three hours had been carried out during last night’s peak hours due to a 3,600MW shortfall resulting from the unavailability of RLNG after a cargo failed to arrive on time. The situation was compounded by a 195MW decline in generation from Mangla Dam.

Furnace oil-based power plants were also brought into operation during peak hours so that the electricity demand in the country could be met during the night hours, the statement added.

“This temporary load management will be reduced as soon as the RLNG cargoes arrive,” it stated.

The Power Division stressed that consumers needed to “moderate their electricity usage during peak hours at night so that load management can be kept to a minimum”.

“There is no load management during the day. However, in areas where load management is carried out due to losses, electricity is being supplied as per the schedule,” it added.

The statement concluded with an apology for the “temporary load management during night hours due to the unavailability of RLNG”.

The government had also apologised to power consumers in April for loadshedding exceeding the promised 2.25 hours, arising out of lower water availability for power generation.

The US-Iran war, which began on February 28, has disrupted the supply of RLNG cargoes from Qatar via the Strait of Hormuz. This resulted in the government purchasing five expensive cargoes from the spot market in July, with the sale price of RLNG witnessing the biggest-ever increase in the commodity’s decade-long history.

Consequently, the cost of RLNG-based power generation surged by a record 242 per cent to Rs47.4 per unit in July, from less than Rs14 in April.

Chiefly because of the LNG factor, the power companies have sought a Rs2.52 per unit increase in fuel cost adjustment (FCA) to consumers across the country in September bills despite 73pc generation in July from cheaper domestic, predominantly zero-cost fuel sources. LNG contributed about 11pc of the total grid supply.