Pakistan's Energy Minister Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari announced an end to power outages across the country on Thursday after fresh liquefied natural gas supplies arrived, restoring electricity generation disrupted by the US-Iran conflict. The LNG shortage had caused a shortfall of around 3,000 megawatts, triggering outages during the peak summer demand season.
Why did Pakistan face load shedding in April 2026?
LNG supplies from Qatar were disrupted due to the US-Israel war on Iran, forcing Pakistan to shut down its LNG-fired power generation units. This created an electricity shortfall of around 3,000 megawatts at a time when summer demand peaks.
The crisis was compounded by lower hydropower output, as provincial water requirements for agriculture take precedence over power generation under Pakistani regulations.
How bad was the load shedding in April 2026?
Leghari said power cuts reached up to five hours in mid-April before gradually improving toward the end of the month, when outages were reduced to two to two-and-a-half hours.
The minister said the government had clarified 15 days earlier that the outages were not caused by system failure, inefficiency, or a lack of generation capacity. The shortfall was rooted entirely in the disruption of gas supplies linked to the US-Iran tensions.
The government chose not to generate electricity using diesel or furnace oil to fully eliminate outages, as doing so would have significantly increased costs for consumers.
Instead, Pakistan entered the spot market to purchase LNG at higher prices to partially bridge the gap. The LNG shipments that arrived a day before the announcement allowed authorities to immediately halt load management across the country.
How has hydropower helped ease Pakistan's power crisis?
Hydropower generation increased sharply in recent days, reaching around 6,000 megawatts compared to roughly 1,000 megawatts earlier in the month.
Water releases are regulated by the Indus River System Authority based on provincial requirements, which had previously limited generation. The combination of resumed LNG supplies and improved hydropower output brought the power situation under control.
What is Pakistan's actual electricity generation capacity?
Leghari rejected claims that Pakistan's electricity generation capacity stands at 46,000 megawatts, calling the figure misleading. He said actual capacity is around 32,000 megawatts, which varies throughout the year based on seasonal and fuel availability factors.
The minister expressed hope that the country would avoid further outages and said the government would continue efforts to protect consumers from high electricity costs.
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