When will power cuts stop? Bangladeshis ask amid heat and disruption in production

Miftahul Jannat and her family need the internet for study, work and entertainment. They have a WiFi connection at home, but during power outages, they have to buy mobile phone data to stay connected on the internet.

“It’s happening every day. Power cuts are causing an increase in expenses. And we suffer at night when outages hit the area and the [private] generator goes off,” said the college student residing in Dhaka’s Mirpur.

Her mother Rasheda Khatun said she bought an electric cooker after the gas price went up. Now power cuts have affected her daily routine of cooking. “I have to manage more time to cook,” she said.

Power outages have become frequent again in Bangladesh amid hot summer weather, as several power plants have been forced to shut down or cut production due to a shortage of gas and coal.

Industries are suffering as the outages disrupt production for hours daily. Private generators are expensive to run with costly fuel oil, which means production cost has gone up.

“The power problem is a national issue now. One of the generators in my factory exploded as they were on for hours. The entire production line was hampered,” said Mohammad Ali Khokon, president of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association.

“We might be able to tackle the situation if there were a maximum of two power cuts a day, but it is difficult to continue production with generators as seven to eight outages are occurring every day. The production system has broken down.”

He believes Bangladesh’s industries made tremendous progress with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the helm of the government. “But all our achievements will be lost if the power problem cannot be solved soon.”

Md Jashim Uddin, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industries, demanded more allocation for the power and energy sector in the national budget.

The FBCCI had to end the press conference, where Jashim was speaking, early due to a power outage.

Engineers in the sector anticipate that the power crisis will worsen if the Payra Thermal Power Plant is fully shut down in the next two to three days.

SM Wazed Ali Sardar, a member of the Bangladesh Power Development Board or PDB, said while there is a growing demand for electricity due to the heat, some power plants have been closed for various reasons, resulting in load shedding in certain areas.

Efforts are being made to restore normalcy by resuming production at some power plants within a week, according to the PDB official.

A PDB report indicates a daily average deficit of 1,500 to 1,700 MW in power production. To shed this load, the authorities are rationing supply across the country, resulting in the outages.

ELECTRICITY DEFICIT REACHES NEARLY 2,000 MW

The cstomers of 80 societies under the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board, or BREB, faced the most shortage of power on Saturday. Dhaka, Narayanganj, Gazipur, and nearby districts also experienced the highest levels of load-shedding.

The customers of the state-owned utility companies, such as the West Zone Power Distribution Company Limited, or WZPDCL, in the south and the Northern Electricity Supply Company Limited, or NESCO, in the north, encountered fewer issues.

Just 10 days ago, 80 societies under BREB, the largest power distribution organisation in Bangladesh, faced a daily shortage of 2,000 MW. However, it has now been reduced to a range of 1,000 to 1,500 MW per day, according to Debashish Chakraborty, a board member.

During the summer season, the board's average daily electricity demand ranges from 7,000 to 9,000 MW.

DESCO, the distribution company in Dhaka, has implemented load-shedding of 150 to 300 MW, according to Kawsar Amir Ali, its managing director.

During office hours, DESCO's areas require slightly over 1,300 MW of electricity.

Bikash Dewan, the managing director of Dhaka Power Distribution Company, said that during office hours, the demand rises to 1,800 to 1,900 MW. The daily shortage is 300 to 400 MW in recent days.

On Saturday, there was a demand for 1,650 MW of electricity around noon, but only 1,450 MW was supplied, he said.

According to Shamsul Alam, the executive director of WZPDCL, which handles distribution in the southern region, its customers have a demand of 600 to 700 MW of electricity, but they get 50 to 100 MW less than the demand.

Abdur Rashid, an official from NESCO, the distribution company in the northern region, reported a nearly 100 MW shortage against a demand of 683 MW.

PROBLEM SOURCE AND SOLUTION TIMELINE

The 153 power plants in Bangladesh have a combined power generation capacity of 23,370 MW, according to the Power Division.

On Apr 19, the country was able to produce 15,648 MW of electricity, utilising the highest capacity.

However, during most of May, the production was limited to a range of 12,000 to 13,000 MW.

PDB official Wazed said that some power plants are undergoing maintenance, while oil and coal supply crunch has led to low production.

The available oil and coal resources are being fully utilised for electricity production, generating approximately 12,500 MW during the day and increasing to 14,500 MW at night, according to him.

The country's largest power plant, Payra Thermal Power Plant, is set to shut down within the next one to two days due to a coal shortage, according to officials.

Last Thursday, the power plant operated at a capacity of 450 MW to 622 MW out of its total capacity of 1244 MW.

Similarly, a unit of the Rampal Power Station generated 323 MW out of its capacity of 617 MW.

The latest data from the PDB shows that the 330 MW gas-based power plant in Sylhet’s Shahjibazar is currently closed for maintenance.

The Siddhirganj 335 MW power plant, Ghorashal 108 MW power plant, and Tongi 105 MW power plant are facing operational challenges or reduced output due to a shortage of gas.

A 210 MW power plant in Chattogram and the Rural Power Company Limited or RPCL 210 MW Power Plant in Mymensingh are both running at 50 per cent capacity due to a gas shortage.

The Bheramara 410 MW Combined Cycle Power Plant is struggling with a gas shortage.

Nasrul Hamid, the State Minister for Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources, attributes the gas-power crisis in the country to the dollar and global economic crises.

However, he has not specified a new timeline for resolving the issue.

The state minister apologised for the situation and urged patience at a recent event.

At another programme on Saturday, he said it would take 20 to 25 days to import coal.

According to Wazed, there will be improvements in the coming week.

“Gas supplies will increase, coal-fired power plants will resume production, and supply from India’s Adani Group will increase.”

SS Power Plant's electricity will be available in Chattogram's Banshkhali, and gas-fired power plants under maintenance will restart production, he added.

Power supply to the national grid started on an experimental basis from one of the two coal-based units of the S Alam Group plant on May 24.

The largest privately owned coal-fired power plant will supply 1224 MW of electricity to the national grid once commercial operations begin.

The plant will be operating at its maximum capacity in June, said Faizur Rahman, a sub-project director there.

[Writing in English by Arshi Fariha Quazi; editing by Osham-ul-Sufian Talukder]