europes-energy-crisis-leaves-almost-all-of-pakistan-without-power (1)

1. Europe’s Energy Crisis Leaves Almost All Of Pakistan Without Power Pakistanfacedanalmostnationwide poweroutageonMonday.Asignificantenergyshortageisone ofthemaindriversofthenation’scurrent economiccrisis…………..Thelong-awaitedwinterenergy crisishasfinallyhit…butitwasn’tinEurope afterall.OnMonday,almost theentiretyofPakistan wasleftwithout powerwhenamisguidedenergysavingstrategybythe government backfired. Runawayinflation,a severelyweakenedcurrency,andrapidlyemptyingforeignexchangereserves haveleft Pakistan onthe brink ofeconomic collapse.Thecountry of230million peopleisplagued by overdue energy payments, and was seeking to cut costs by lowering energy use when the plan wentoffthe rails,leavingpeople acrossthe country withoutpowerorwaterformorethan12hours. Pakistani officials had planned to save on energy costs by turning off electricity across the country overnight.Nighttimehasthelowest usagehoursforenergyinPakistan,where wintersare relatively mild.The problem came whentechnicianstried toreboot the electricsysteminthemorning,and foundoutthat theinfrastructure wasn’t capableofbootingupthe entirenation’senergygridall at once.Majorcities,includingthe capital cityof Islamabad,aswell assmallercitiesandtownsacross thecountrywereleftinthedarkfor 15hoursonMonday,lastinginto thenight. “Asaneconomicmeasure,we temporarilyshut down ourpowergenerationsystems” Sundaynight, Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir told local media. He went on to explain that when engineers tried to turnthe systemsbackon,a“fluctuation in voltage” occurred,which“forcedengineerstoshut downthepower grid”stationsaltogether…………….OilPrice