Bangladesh’s power crisis worsens as transmission line from India’s Adani trips

The transmission line for electricity from the Adani Group plant in India has tripped, deepening an ongoing power crisis in Bangladesh amid a heatwave.

The line tripped at Rahanpur in Chapainawabganj around 2:45pm on Wednesday, according to officials at the Bangladesh Power Development Board and the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh.

A PGCB official said a storm caused the line to trip and supply was expected to resume by 11pm.

SM Waazed Ali Sarder, a member of the PDB, said they were expecting the connection to be restored by 7pm. “I think supply has resumed,” he said.

Bangladesh has been receiving around 750 MW of electricity from the Indian conglomerate’s plant in Jharkhand.

With major power stations closed due to a shortage of coal or gas amid a dollar crisis, Bangladesh has been experiencing intense power cuts for weeks.

After the line for power from Adani’s plant tripped the supply-demand mismatch increased to 3,419 MW at 4pm on Wednesday from a daily average of 2,500-3,000 MW in the past few weeks.

Last month, a shortage of coal halted electricity generation at one of two units of the country's largest plant in Payra. On Monday, the second unit of the 1,320 MW plant also shut down production around noon.

As a result, the country's total power supply decreased by more than 600 MW, adding to the ongoing power cut woes around the country.

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said it may take two more weeks for the situation to improve after the arrival of new shipments of coal.