Kaptai Lake water level drop cuts power generation

The fast-dropping water level in Rangamati’s Kaptai Lake is disrupting power generation at the country’s only hydropower station.

In response to a query, Manager (acting) and Executive Engineer of Karnaphuli Hydroelectric Power Station Jalal Uddin, said, “Among the five units, only 40MW of electricity is being produced at this moment from the second unit.

“We have carried out repair in the first unit and it will resume production shortly. However, we cannot operate the other three units due to a lack of water in the lake.”

According to data from the control room of the power plant, the amount of water in Kaptai Lake was 90.09 feet mean sea level (MSL) till Sunday morning. It was supposed to be 106.4 feet MSL as per regulations.

Kaptai Lake can contain water up to 109 feet MSL.

A total of 240MW of electricity can be produced by the five units of the hydropower station. However, both power production and navigation get disrupted during the dry season, which lasts from October to February.