The 2023 Pakistan Nationwide Blackout
On 23 January 2023, Pakistan: A frequency disturbance as plants were restarted after an overnight fuel saving shutdown took down the national grid, the second major outage in four months.
Key Facts
- The outage began at 7:34am local time on 23 January 2023.
- Pakistan's grid failed as plants were restarted after being switched off overnight to save fuel.
- It was the second major national outage in four months.
- The capital, Islamabad, was among the places that lost power.
What Happened
At 7:34am on Monday 23 January 2023, Pakistan's national grid failed, cutting power across a country of more than 220 million people, including the capital Islamabad.
Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan said a variation in frequency in the south of the country, between Jamshoro and Dadu, set off a cascade as generating units were switched back on at about 7:30am. Under a government plan to save fuel, some generating units are shut down overnight in winter, when demand is low, and they were being restarted when the grid failed.
The minister said restoration could take up to 12 hours, and power returned in stages as the day went on. It was the second major outage in four months, during an economic crisis and fuel shortage that had already led the government to order earlier market closing times to save energy. Accounts of the technical cause differ, so this page gives the official explanation offered on the day rather than a settled finding.
Cause
Official explanation: a frequency disturbance in the south as units were restarted after an overnight fuel saving shutdown; technical accounts differ
Researched independently from public reporting, not from this site's own data. Source: Al Jazeera.
Related
Cite this page
World Power Monitor. (2023). The 2023 Pakistan Nationwide Blackout: What Happened and Why. https://worldpowermonitor.com/grid-events/pakistan-blackout-2023/
World Power Monitor. The 2023 Pakistan Nationwide Blackout: What Happened and Why. Data as of 2023-01-23. https://worldpowermonitor.com/grid-events/pakistan-blackout-2023/
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