In the current winter season in Pakistan, most parts of the country are covered with fog. The plains of Punjab and Upper Sindh are currently engulfed in heavy fog, which is not only disrupting the traffic system in the country, but due to this, the electricity system has also been affected.
But about how fog affects the power transmission system, Syed Akhtar Ali, an energy expert and former member of the Planning Commission, said that fog contains moisture and when the fog becomes very intense, it The humidity ratio also increases.
He said that because the electric wire is open, this moisture gets embedded in it, which disrupts the transmission of electricity. This interruption in power transmission causes the feeders to trip.
The electricity system in Pakistan is connected to the national grid in which after the generation of electricity it is distributed throughout the country through distribution companies.
A fault in the power system in one part of the national grid has an effect on the entire system which leads to load shedding.
Rao Aamir said that it is technically necessary to maintain the voltage throughout the national grid, but when there is fog, the wires become open and the moisture gets embedded, which disrupts the transmission of this voltage.
Akhtar Ali said in this regard that fog also occurs in developed countries but it does not happen there because there are excellent quality electrical conductors which are effective against fog.
He said that the power distribution system in Pakistan is already rotten and then fog affects its functionality further.
Last week, the sources of Multan Electric Supply Company told the news agency APP that the transmission lines were affected due to heavy fog in Bahawalpur and its surrounding areas and the reason for the load shedding for several hours was that the 500 kV The voltage line was tripped.
Authorities also blamed fog for tripping of several power plants, transmission lines and grid stations during January 2019 for increased load-shedding across the country.
The then Federal Minister for Power Division Umar Ayub Khan said that the 500 KV Guddu transmission line was tripped due to heavy fog and the transmission line malfunctioned at two places.
He admitted that the transmission lines are often far from the roads and due to fog they face difficulties in repairing them.
In these situations, distribution companies usually do temporary load management, which increases load shedding on an hourly basis.