Could a simple power outage cripple an entire country? Perhaps the better question to ask is why a single country allows its energy infrastructure to cripple to the point that a single outage in a transmission line can render a number of cities dark. This is the crippling reality for Pakistan, pointing to bigger problems that just a lack of proper power protection.
On Sunday, a key power transmission line located in a southern part of Pakistan triggered what many are calling the worst power failure the country has experienced. Power was cut to a number of major cities, including Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital when a 500 kva transmission line carrying electricity from Hubco Power Plant to the national grid tripped.
So powerful was this trip between the private provider and the national grid that 80 percent of the country went dark. Projections for repair settled at eight hours as the electricity distribution system in Pakistan is complex and delicate. The web of connections with a number of vulnerabilities easily creates a chain reaction and breakdowns throughout the grid. But these vulnerabilities are only part of the problem.
The energy sector in Pakistan is locked in a cycle of circular debt as a result of the government setting low electricity prices and customers failing to pay for it. As a result, state utilities consistently lose money and therefore cannot pay private power generating companies. These companies then cannot pay their gas and oil suppliers, who then cut the supply. It really is a vicious cycle that appears to have no end.
While such a cycle is not necessarily common in North America, this situation points to the importance of protecting your assets at all times. Power protection supplies ensure that the information you’ve captured on your server, for instance, isn’t lost just because the power goes out. Likewise, if the project you’re working on is too intense to repeat, you want to be sure the information involved is saved before power is lost – another priority in power protection.
In Pakistan, this particular power outage may not have had quite the impact had a fuel crisis not already taken root. Pakistan State Oil was forced last week to cut imports when banks refused to extend additional credit to the company, which is government owned and supplies 80 percent of the nation’s oil.
Power protection supplies may not immediately address Pakistan’s problem, but companies trying to successfully do business there had no choice but to shut down while the outage was repaired. If not repaired quickly enough, the outage could put some out of business. If you don’t want this reality to be yours, power protection may be the way to go.
Edited by Rory J. Thompson