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

On Saturday, the government apologized to consumers for nighttime electricity load shedding caused by a lack of regasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG), promising that load management would decrease "as soon as" delayed RLNG shipments arrived. A government spokesperson explained that temporary load management of 1.5 to three hours took place during last night's peak hours due to a 3,600MW gap caused by a cargo that missed its scheduled arrival.

The issue was worsened by a 195MW reduction in power generation from Mangla Dam. To meet the electricity demand in the country during the night, furnace oil-based power plants were activated. The government emphasized that consumers should "moderate their electricity usage during peak hours at night so that load management can be kept to a minimum."

The statement concluded with an apology for the "temporary load management during night hours due to the unavailability of RLNG." The government had previously apologized in April for load shedding that exceeded the promised 2.25 hours, attributed to reduced water availability for power generation. The ongoing US-Iran war has disrupted the supply of RLNG cargoes from Qatar via the Strait of Hormuz, leading the government to purchase five expensive cargoes from the spot market in July.

This resulted in a record 242% increase in RLNG prices, causing power companies to request a significant Rs2.52 per unit fuel cost adjustment (FCA) for September bills. Despite 73% of generation in July coming from domestic, largely free-of-charge fuel sources, LNG accounted for about 11% of the total grid supply.