Power restored after short-lived blackout

AMMAN — The Kingdom on Friday night faced a power outage after a technical glitch hit the Egyptian side of the power line, causing widespread disruptions in water supply across the country. 

The blackout began at 10:12pm and the process to restore power supply took a minimum of four minutes in some areas and 48 minutes in others, especially since it was carried out gradually to maintain the stability of power supply, National Electric Power Company (NEPCO) CEO Amjad Rawashdeh said on Saturday, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

Rawashdeh said shutting the power down in the Kingdom is a “defence plan” that NEPCO implements to sustain the power supply.

He added that such emergencies are an “opportunity” to test the capabilities of electricity companies and their workforce’s preparedness while efficiently restoring the power in “record time”. 

For its part, the Ministry of Water and Irrigation on Saturday said that the power outage caused halts in water supply and pumping in many areas, Petra reported. 

Ministry of Water and Irrigation Spokesperson Omar Salameh said that even if the power is out for a moment, it will cause the water sources that supply certain areas to stop for hours until power is restored. This is because when the blackout happens, the electricity employees need to check the safety of the processing and pumping systems.

The wide and sudden outage that happened on Friday night caused large-scale disruptions in pumping and supply programmes across the Kingdom, Salameh said, noting that the ministry's personnel worked until Saturday morning to restore power. 

The recorded power outages at main water sources in June this year have reached an unprecedented figure of 103, the spokesperson said, noting that this has affected the supply of over a million cubic metres of water in Zarqa, Karak and Irbid.

He added that 38 per cent of complaints received on the unified number "117116" were about the delays in the supply programme, which extended to a maximum of 10 hours in some areas. 

Salameh said power outages are one of the biggest challenges that face water supplies, especially during peak hours, urging citizens to cooperate with the water sector’s institutions and "understand that such emergencies are out of the staff's control".