Pakistan's thermal power plant failure causes national grid collapse

      Just in early January, Pakistan's national power grid ran down due to a thermal power plant failure. It was one of the worst blackouts in the history of Pakistan, causing all major cities in Pakistan to be plunged into darkness.

　　The blackout lasted for about 18 hours long and had a severe impact on Pakistani industry and residential life. Power supply to the cities was gradually restored in the afternoon of Sunday, Jan. 10, local time.

　　Pakistan's Power Minister Omar Ayub Khan explained on social media that the national blackout was triggered by a failure at Pakistan's largest thermal power plant in Guddu, which led to the collapse of the grid.

　　The plant was built in the 1980s, and the power supply system is technically old. The Pakistani government says it has a clear policy to upgrade the power system and is making plans to do so.

　　This is not the first major power outage in Pakistan, as the country was without power for more than nine hours in May 2018. Earlier, in January 2015, power was cut to 80 percent of Pakistan, including Islamabad and major cities, as transmission lines were disrupted after an attack.