Frequent blackouts cripple everyday lives

Recurrent power outages are severely affecting people’s lives, with load-shedding being reported in various areas even late at night.

The government said it would end the two-month power rationing in early October, but that has not happened. Rather, the situation has become worse.

Residents in different areas of the capital say they are experiencing load-shedding for around five to six hours a day while it is lasting for up to 12 hours in villages.

Masum Rahman, a resident of Niketan, told The Business Post power went out twice between Monday midnight and 6am in his area.

“It was terrible. I could not sleep when the power went out around midnight. It was hot,” he said.

He further said, “I do not know the second blackout happened. I suddenly woke up and saw the ceiling fan was not on. It was around 5:30am. I told myself it was an awful night.”

Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) says several power plants were not commissioned following the recent national grid failure due to the fear of a new blackout.

That is why electricity was not being produced as per the demand, it said.

Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB), however, denied the BPDB’s claim. Its Spokesperson ABM Badruddoza told The Business Post the national gridline is active and capable of meeting the full electricity demand.

He said many power plants are sitting idle due to energy shortages and there is a daily shortfall of 1,500MW.

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid also said on Monday energy shortages were disrupting electricity generation and the situation would not improve before November.

The electricity demand would naturally fall in November due to winter, he added.

BPDB says the country now has 152 power plants with 22,512MW installation capacity. Of this, the gas-fired plants can generate 9,580MW daily and require 2,252MMcf/d gas to run at full capacity.

But Petrobangla supplied only 952MMcf/d gas to these plants on October 9 (Sunday).

BPDB says 20 high-efficient combined cycle power plants had to be shut down due to gas shortages. The country’s gas demand is 3,400MMcf/d, but Petrobangla data shows it supplies 2,600MMcf/d on average.

Between October 4 and 9, there was a deficit of 1,000-1,500MW per day on average. On Sunday, the electricity demand during peak hours was 13,850MW while production was 12,290MW.

A top official of Dhaka Power Distribution Company said BPDB’s power demand information is correct but that on production is not.

He said there would not have been so much load-shedding even if BPDB produced as much power as its data showed.

BPDB Member (production) Ashraful Islam told The Business Post on Monday they were producing at their highest capacity.

He said producing more was not possible at present as many power plants had to be closed due to gas shortages. “Diesel-fired power plants are not able to meet the demand even if they run at full capacity.”

Mohammad Hossain, director general of Power Cell, said all power plants had not yet started production after last week’s grid failure while some had experienced internal faults.

“Once these plants are operational, the supply problem will be solved,” he said.