Power Minister Awais Leghari on Thursday reiterated the government’s apology for excessive loadshedding, explaining that the external factor of the fuel supply crisis due to the Middle East war was one of the main reasons.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Leghari reiterated the apology for higher than promised “load management”, which the government had blamed on lower water availability for power generation.
“If the public his facing any inconveniences due to us not providing electricity at night and during peak hours, I am directly answerable,” he said.
“We apologise too but […] the circumstances are such that they are not in our control. Even then, we ought to apologise,” the minister noted.
He said the country had a total shortfall of 2,500 megawatts (MW) due to two reasons: the shortage of fuel imports due to the ongoing Middle East war and reduced hydropower generation due to a water shortage.
Leghari said the requirements of liquified natural gas (LNG) “stopped coming from abroad after April 1”.
He pointed out that Qatar’s state-run energy firm had declared force majeure, which resulted in a “huge gap” in the power requirements fulfilled through gas plants during peak hours.
The minister recalled that the electricity generated from water resources was 3,200MW in April 2025, while the output from LNG plants was 3,000MW.
This year, he said, the 3,200MW hydropower was reduced to 1,671MW due to water not being released from Mangla and Tarbela.
Leghari observed that the shortfall from LNG plants due to the lack of fuel imports was 2,500MW, whereas the shortfall in hydropower was 1,530MW.
Leghari asserted that the PML-N government in 2017 and over the past few years had “freed the entire public from darkness and loadshedding”.
He noted that Pakistan’s shift to renewable energy had been acknowledged in the international media, adding that it was “through the investments made by people, not with the support of IPPs (independent power producers) and expensive loans”.
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