Gas supply crunch forces power cuts in Dhaka

Supply shortage of natural gas used in producing electricity has led to power outages in Dhaka, leaving many without running water.

State Minister for Power Nasrul Hamid has said the crisis occurred due to an increased supply of gas to fertiliser and RMG factories.

According to the Power Development Board (PDB), the power production was 545 megawatts, less than the total requirement of 6,455MW, on Sunday.

The PDB has to manage the shortage with rolling outages.

Mirpur residents said they were suffering water shortages due to power cuts.

Hamid said, "The situation will become normal within a month."

To make matters worse, power shortage in India is preventing it from supplying 500MW electricity daily to Bangladesh which received 258MW on Sunday.

The highest power generation in the country's history was recorded at 7,418MW on July 18.

Power production has come down by nearly 1,000MW within the span of two months.

Hamid said the government was trying to keep the situation under control by supplying extracted gas to power plants and fertiliser factories at times.

"The fertiliser factories are running in full throttle now. Supplying gas to the sector is hampering power production," he explained.

Five manure factories, shut in March, were reopened in August to meet fertiliser demand. At present, seven fertiliser factories consume about 200 million cubic feet (mmcf) of gas daily.

Around 70 percent of Bangladesh's power is gas-based. So, the power generation drops when the demand for gas increases in other sectors.

State-run Petrobangla said, 794 mmcf gas was supplied to the power stations on Sunday against a daily demand of 1,378 mmcf.

On the day, altogether 2,355 mmcf gas was supplied to the national grid.

According to PDB, power stations could have generated about 1,400MW more if there was no gas crisis.

Junior minister Hamid said the RMG owners were asking for non-stop gas supply at their factories to meet shipment deadlines and pay the workers before the next Eid.

“This is another reason for gas shortage," he said.

Petrobangla Director Md Kamruzzaman told bdnews24.com: "We have to supply a certain amount of gas by coordinating between various sectors.

"The situation will become somewhat normal after gas production goes up by 100 mmcf from the next month."