Published : 01 Sep 2026, 09:41 PM
Updated : 08 Sep 2026, 09:37 AM
Load-shedding has increased significantly in Dhaka as part of an effort to ease the burden of power cuts outside the capital.
Speaking at the weekly press briefing on government progress at the Secretariat on Tuesday, Prime Minister's Information and Broadcasting Advisor Zahed Ur Rahman said the duration of load-shedding was a more important indicator than its volume.
"Statistics show that the Dhaka region, covering DESCO, DPDC and REB, has been subjected to load-shedding for about 1.5 to two hours less each day than other regions," he said.
In his written statement, Zahed said that, following the prime minister's directive, load-shedding in areas served by the Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited (DPDC) and Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited (DESCO) had been adjusted to redistribute the electricity saved to rural and other parts of the country.
The move, he said, had improved power supply for important customers, including industries, outside Dhaka, reduced prolonged and frequent outages in rural areas and allowed the burden of load-shedding to be shared more evenly.
He attributed nationwide load-shedding from Aug 27 to 30 to an imbalance between electricity demand and supply on the national grid.
Citing daily reports from Power Grid Bangladesh, Zahed said load-shedding fell significantly on Aug 28 as peak demand was lower.
On Aug 27, 29 and 30, demand reached around 17,700-17,800 megawatts (MW), compared with 16,318 MW on Aug 28.
Supply remained relatively stable at 14,800-14,979MW over the four days.
Around 24-25 percent of national load-shedding during evening peak hours occurred in Dhaka, reflecting increased demand, he said.
Zahed identified fuel shortages, mechanical faults and maintenance at power plants, transmission and grid limitations, and rapidly rising demand as the four factors behind the current situation.
He said the power situation could improve quickly if gas supplies were restored and the situation in West Asia stabilised.
The government is also working to address the supply shortage, he said. An additional floating storage and regasification unit has been ordered and is expected to take 1.5 to two years to build, allowing LNG imports to increase.
Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (BAPEX) is drilling and re-drilling 150 wells in an effort to find more domestic gas.
A Tk 5 billion project is also under way to bring gas from Bhola through pipelines.
The advisor said trial operations at the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant were expected to begin in September, with full-scale operation planned from next year.
"Altogether, we are saying it will take two years. By then, we will reach a level of electricity supply much better than what we previously considered good," Zahed said, adding that the aim was to provide almost uninterrupted power across urban and rural areas.
