Pakistan’s Energy Minister Sardar Owais Leghari, speaking at a news conference in Islamabad on Thursday, said that the country was facing power shortages due to regional conditions and limited energy resources, and he wanted to present facts about load shedding and apologised for outages during peak hours.

He said Pakistan could not generate electricity from gas during peak hours and cited a shortage of gas supplies following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Hydropower generation has also been affected by low water releases from dams, limiting output to 1,676 megawatts and creating a shortfall of 1,530 MW, he added.

Leghari said no load shedding was being carried out during daytime hours, but outages were being increased as needed, affecting rural and urban areas as well as the industrial sector.

He said daily electricity demand in the first 15 days of April ranged between 15,000 and 20,000 MW, while problems had worsened due to the halt in imported gas since April 1.

Electricity generation from LNG plants has dropped to 1,671 MW this April from around 3,000 MW in the same month last year, he said.

He also said misinformation was being spread on social media about load shedding, adding that electricity prices had declined over the past two years, which had contributed to increased demand.