Published : 04 Aug 2026, 07:14 AM
Updated : 08 Sep 2026, 09:30 AM
The Burning Deficit
Asymmetrical costs: Oil generation delivers just 16 percent of national electricity whilst draining a disproportionate 39 percent of power expenses
Severe supply deficit: Power plants receive under a third of their daily gas needs, forcing generation down to 52 percent of total capacity
Skyrocketing tariffs: Oil-fired power averages Tk 18.59 per kWh -- over five times the production cost of gas-driven electricity
Midnight blackouts: Loadshedding regularly surpasses 3,000MW in the early hours as fuel-depleted oil plants throttle output
A gas shortage is forcing Bangladesh into an expensive trade-off: burn more furnace oil and diesel to keep the lights on, or accept deeper power cuts.
The Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB) is choosing the former, but even that is proving insufficient. In the small hours, when oil-fired generation is scaled back, load-shedding can surge beyond 3,000MW.
PDB Member (generation) Md Zahurul Islam told bdnews24.com that the shift would push up generation costs and the government’s subsidy burden. There are few alternatives left, he said.
An analysis of daily reports from Power Grid Bangladesh, the PDB and Petrobangla shows that from Jul 29 to Aug 1, furnace oil and diesel plants supplied 16 percent of electricity generated and imported.
Yet they accounted for about 39 percent of recorded fuel and power-import costs.
The average recorded cost of oil-fired electricity was Tk 18.59 per unit, against Tk 3.48 for gas-fired power -- more than five times as much.
Gas Shortage Hits Kitchens and the Grid
For residents, the crisis is reaching from the kitchen stove to the national grid.
In Mohammadpur, Tahsina Binte Rahman now waits until deep into the night to cook because gas is unavailable for much of the day. The lost sleep leaves her to take her children to school and manage the household the next morning.
Vidisha Gain Halder of Shekertek has been facing the same problem. Her family has had to buy meals from restaurants or eat at relatives’ homes. They have turned to electric stoves, but loadshedding shuts down that option too.
The gas crisis is therefore squeezing the power sector from both ends.
Power plants are receiving less gas, while factories whose captive plants have stopped and households increasingly using electric stoves are drawing more electricity from the national grid.
Zahurul said power plants that received around 900 million to 1 billion cubic feet of gas a day a few weeks ago are now getting 600-700 million cubic feet.
Petrobangla data for Aug 1-2 put the daily gas requirement of grid-connected power plants at 2,146 million cubic feet. They received only 682.3 million cubic feet -- less than one-third of demand.
Several major plants, including Ghorashal, Unique Meghnaghat, Siddhirganj, Meghnaghat IPP, Jera Meghnaghat, RPCL, Raozan and Bheramara, were shown as receiving no gas.
Oil Power Costs More, Delivers Less
Over the four days to Aug 1, Bangladesh generated and imported about 13.33 billion units of electricity. Furnace oil and diesel plants supplied roughly 2.14 billion units -- about 16 units out of every 100.
Recorded fuel and power-import costs totalled around Tk 102.6 billion, of which about Tk 39.7 billion went to oil-fired generation. Thus, oil supplied 16 percent of power but consumed 39 percent of recorded costs.
The average cost per unit was Tk 3.48 for gas, Tk 6.73 for coal, Tk 6.31 for imported electricity and Tk 18.59 for oil.
Yet oil-fired generation is also being cut deep into the night. At 9pm on Aug 2, oil plants produced 3,402MW; by 6am, that had fallen to 1,152MW.
The 2,250MW drop accounted for nearly three-quarters of the overall 3,012MW fall in generation.
Loadshedding reached 2,953MW at 1am, 2,980MW at 2am and 3,014MW at 3am. It remained 2,629MW at 6am.
Fuel Shortages Meet Financial Strain
Zahurul said several private oil-fired plants were operating with limited fuel stocks. Some can maintain generation until 10pm or midnight, but then have to cut output because empty tanks would prevent them from running the following day. Delayed payments are also making it difficult to buy fresh fuel.
The PDB reports listed “liquid fuel shortage” beside several plants, while others were offline or operating at reduced capacity because of engine and mechanical problems.
On Aug 1, Bangladesh had installed generation capacity of 29,593MW and effective capacity of 28,793MW. Yet peak generation was only 15,355MW, around 52 percent of installed capacity.
Fuel limitations accounted for 5,602MW of potential generation losses, while shutdowns, mechanical faults and maintenance accounted for another 2,309MW.
Over four days, demand totalled about 14.879 billion units against 13.33 billion units generated and imported -- a shortfall of 1.55 billion units, or an average 1,62MW. On Aug 1 alone, the deficit was about 525 million units.
The strain comes as the PDB already faces heavy losses.
In 2024-25, it spent Tk 720.71 billion buying power from IPPs, up 25.61 percent from the previous year. Total purchases outside its own plants cost about Tk 1.06 trillion, against Tk 124.85 billion in its own generation costs.
Its average wholesale supply cost was Tk 12.34 per unit, compared with a wholesale selling price of Tk 6.80. Despite Tk 386.37 billion in government subsidy, PDB posted a net loss of about Tk 170.21 billion. Its business and other liabilities stood at about Tk 590.51 billion by Jun 2025.
Dhaka Fares Better
The burden is uneven.
At 9pm on Aug 1, Dhaka accounted for only 394MW of the country’s 2,072MW loadshedding, while the eight regions outside the capital accounted for 1,678MW -- about 81 percent.
The gas crisis worsened after an LNG terminal operated by Excelerate Energy at Moheshkhali shut following a fire on Jul 21, cutting national-grid gas supplies by roughly 450-500 million cubic feet a day. Supplies fell from around 2.65-2.70 billion cubic feet to 2.14-2.15 billion.
Petrobangla Chairman Md Abdul Mannan said spare parts had been flown in from four or five countries and repairs were progressing satisfactorily. The first unit is expected to resume within the week and the second around Aug 10.
“We are trying our utmost. People are suffering, and we are sorry,” he said.
