The 2021 Pakistan blackout was a power outage that occurred across

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

on January 9, 2021.

Cause

The Power Minister

Omar Ayub Omar Ayub Khan (; born 26 January 1970) is a Pakistani politician who is currently serving as the Leader of the Opposition (Pakistan), Leader of the Opposition. He was the last Ministry of Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs, Federal Minist ...

cited the reason that at 11.41pm local time (1841 GMT) on Saturday January 9, the blackout was caused by “an engineering fault” in Guddu power plant in southern Pakistan which tripped the system and caused power plants to shut down.

Areas affected

Areas affected by power cuts include the capital

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

, along with major cities such as

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

Multan Multan is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, fifth-most populous city in the Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province of Pakistan. Located along the eastern bank of the Chenab River, it is the List of cities in Pakistan by populatio ...

Quetta Quetta is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It is the ninth largest city in Pakistan, with an estimated population of over 1.6 million in 2024. It is situated in the south-west of the country, lying in a ...

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

Faisalabad Faisalabad, formerly known as Lyallpur, is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, second-largest city and primary List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, industrial center of the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan ...

Muzaffargarh Muzaffargarh is a city in the province of Punjab, Pakistan. Located on the bank of the Chenab River, it is the capital of the eponymous district. It is the 39th most populous city of Pakistan. History The Muzaffargarh region was an agricultura ...

Narowal Narowal ( Punjabi / ; ) is a historic a city located on the western bank of river Ravi in Punjab Pakistan. It was found by a Jat named Baba Naro Bajwa many centuries ago. The city is the capital of district Narowal, and a part of the Guj ...

Bhakkar Bhakkar () is the principal city of Bhakkar District, Punjab, Pakistan. It lies on the left bank of the Indus River. It is the 86th most populous city in Pakistan. Administration Bhakkar is the administrative centre of Bhakkar Tehsil, which ...

Kabirwala Kabirwala (, Punjabi language, Punjabi ) is a town of Khanewal District in the Punjab (Pakistan), Punjab province of Pakistan. The town is the headquarters of Kabirwala Tehsil, an administrative subdivision of Khanewal District. Kabirwala's pop ...

Khanewal Khanewal is a city and the capital of Khanewal District in Punjab, Pakistan. Khanewal also contains Pakistan's third largest railway junction. It is the 36th largest city of Pakistan by population. Etymology According to one theory, Khanewal ...

Bahawalpur Bahawalpur (Urdu: ; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the 13th largest city of Pakistan and List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, 8th most populous city of Punjab. Bahawalpur is the capital of Bahawalpur Division. Founded in ...

and

Sukkur Sukkur is a city in the Pakistani province of Sindh along the western bank of the Indus River, directly across from the historic city of Rohri. Sukkur is the List of cities in Sindh by population, third largest city in Sindh after Karachi and H ...

. Between 80 and 90 per cent electricity supply was suspended during the blackout.

Impact

The blackout affected the operations of airports as well as forced the hospitals to use their backup generators. An inquiry was also conducted by National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) to probe the incident and imposed a fine of Rs50 million on the National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC). NEPRA stated the reason that the NTDC failed to ensure the supply of electricity in a timely manner.

References

{{Reflist Power outages in Pakistan January 2021 in Pakistan