Home ›› 04 Feb 2023 ›› Front
Electricity generation at the power plants in Chattogram Division is being severely hampered due to the ongoing energy crisis.
There are 22 public and priate power plants in Chattogram Southern Zone of the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and 21 of them, including one hydropower and two solar, have been active for a long time.
Of the active ones, five plants — four gas-fired ones and one furnace oil-fired — have already shut down due to various reasons, including gas and furnace oil supply disruption.
On the other hand, 13 others are massively suffering and generating electricity less than their capacity due to supply shortages.
According to the latest data, all the power plants together have a total capacity of generating 2,382 megawatts (MW) of electricity. But at present, the active ones are producing only 470 MW during the day and 972 MW at night — leading to power outages in the
southern zone.
Production in most of the country’s gas-fired power plants dropped and partially or completely stopped after the government stopped buying liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the spot market due to the dollar crisis since June-July last year and a sharp increase in global LNG prices.
Meawhile, slower gas extraction from domestic resource was another reason for the energy shortage at power plants.
However, the government has decided to start LNG import from spot market. In the meantime, Petrobangla is going to order a LNG shipment from Total Energies.
Petrobangla officilas said the LNG carrier is scheduled to be arrive at Coxs Bazar’s Matarbari FSRU by February 15-20. The officials have expected that the ongoing energy crisis will be partially solved following the LNG purchase from the spot market.
According to the Chattogram Southern Zone’s power generation data from January 25 and 26, three gas-fired plants — Chattogram TPP 1 and 2 (180 MW each) and the 22 MW one at Barabakund — have shut down.
The 150 MW peaking power plant at Shikalbaha has been closed due to gas shortage and maintenance issues. Also, the Chattogram 108 MW PP (ECPV) power plant has stopped operating due to a furnace oil crisis.
Meanwhile, four out of five units in the country’s only hydropower plant at Kaptai are not operating due to a lack of water in the dam’s reservoir. The lone active unit is producing only 30 MW of electricity.
The 20 MW and the 7 MW solar power plants in Teknaf and Kaptai, respectively, are working properly but their contribution is not making much difference as they do not generate electricity at night.
In this regard, BPDB Southern Zone Chief Engineer Rezaul Karim told The Business Post, “The public and private plants in Chattogram are producing nearly 1,000 MW of electricity. Since the demand is almost the same, there is not much load shedding.”
“However, like many power plants across the country, some plants here have stopped production partially or completely due to gas shortage. But we hope this problem will be resolved in the next few months. Production at the Mirsarai plant will also start this year if the gas supply is ensured,” he added.
An analysis of 2022 data shows that there has been a massive decline in LNG imports last year compared to 2021 due to rising global prices.
In 2021, around 50.16 lakh metric tonnes of LNG was imported. In contrast, only 3.12 lakh metric tonnes of LNG was imported in 2022 — marking a 93.77 per cent decrease from the previous year.
Meanwhile, furnace oil imports also decreased in 2022 compared to 2021.
In 2021, a total of 48.57 lakh metric tonnes of furnace oil was imported and 44.70 lakh metric tonnes in 2022 — marking a 7.95 per cent decline.
Although LNG imports from Qatar and Oman, the two sources with long-term contracts, are continuing, the amount is not enough to meet the national demand. As a result, many power plants have been forced to stop production as the supplied gas was not meeting the demand.
