Pakistan power shortages ease as hydro generation rebounds

Pakistan's power shortages eased from six hours of daily outages to less than three hours, after water releases from dams nearly quadrupled and pushed hydropower output to its highest in days, a spokesperson for the country's power division said on Friday.



Hydropower generation rose to 4,100 megawatts (MW) late on Thursday, from 1,800 MW before the dam releases. The higher output also eased grid constraints and allowed an additional 400 MW to be transmitted from the country's south, the spokesperson said.



The overnight improvement comes after Pakistan's electricity shortfall doubled this week to 3,400 megawatts - about a sixth of total demand - causing six to seven hours of outages in parts of northern Pakistan and hitting telecommunications.



The shortfalls were mainly due to a 48% annual decline in hydropower output as provinces had not been asking for water releases from dams due to heavy rains reducing the need for irrigation, Power Minister Awais Leghari told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.



It was not immediately clear what had driven the increased water releases.