Sudden shutdowns of power plants have triggered shortages of more than 1,000 MW in the country, particularly outside the capital, officials of distribution companies told The Independent yesterday. “There has been record load-shedding this year as some big plants were shut this summer,” said an engineer of the power sector. To generate more power to meet the demand in summer, which also has the highest peak demand for power, the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) is trying to get more gas by shutting down the Karnafuli Fertilizer Company and Shahjalal Fertilizer Company, sources said.
“Because of the result of poor planning, you will see load-shedding everywhere in the country, even in the capital,” said an official of the power sector.
“We cannot believe that this year we will suffer a massive power crisis. On Saturday night, the power went at around 8pm and was restored at 2pm on Sunday,” said Abdus Nasim from Thakurgaon Road of Thakurgaon district, the country’s northern area.
Our correspondents from different areas of the country have sent in similar reports, quoting locals, which indicated that the people of rural areas are reeling under a power crisis in such heat wave situations.
In Shariatpur area, the demand for power in the evening is 41 MW, but they get only 13 MW. In Chuadanga district, the power demand in the peak time is around 16 MW, but they get only 9 MW.
Residents of the capital, too, have also suffered power outages. “On Saturday night, the electricity went twice, in this heat,” said a resident of Jatrabari area.
“In such a situation, we have to suffer a lot because of load-shedding. The kids are suffering a lot. They are failing sick,” he added.
The chief executives of the distribution companies told The Independent that they have never faced such a situation in recent years.
“In my area, we require at least 4,300 MW of power to meet the demand from the rural customers. But we get only 3,800 MW, which causes a huge crisis in the villages,” said Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB) chairman Maj. Gen. Moin Uddin.  “Just a few days back, there was a grid line failure in the Kishoreganj district, which blocked 400 to 500 MW power transmissions to north Bengal. Until the line recovers, the situation may not improve,” he added.
Zakiul Islam, managing director of North West Zone Power Distribution Company Ltd, told The Independent: “In my area, Rangpur and Dinajpur districts are the worst victims of load-shedding. We require 500 MW of power to meet the peak time load in my area, but we get only 250 MW, indicating that there are massive power shortages. But we are trying to cover the shortfall before Ramazan.” Sources added that not just north Bengal, the port city of Chittagong too is also reeling under the crisis. “In Chittagong area, the demand for power is around 1,000 MW, but we get only 700 to 750 MW. We are passing through difficult times as there is a huge power crisis,” the BPDB’s chief engineer, who distributes power in the second largest city in the country, said.
Mostafizur Rahman, BPDB’s member (generation), who looks after all the country’s power generation, told The Independent: “It is our bad luck. Summit Group’s Bibiyana 330MW plant suddenly went down on Saturday for some technical glitch. Not only that, the Ashuganj 200 MW, Bagabhari 100 MW, Gorashal 50 MW and Sirajganj 225 MW plants are also not generating any power. On the other hand, Bheramara 214 MW, Boropukuria 210 MW and Rangpur 20 MW are also under maintenance. This has created shortfalls in the generation line.” “I know it is tough to meet the demand as we had calculated that the power shortage would be 700 to 800 MW and the peak-time demand for power is about 9,500 MW,” he added. A BPDB official said Ramazan will start after a few days and then the demand would soar to 11,000 MW. Last year, the government celebrated the installation of power capacity worth 15,000 MW in the country. But the BPDB official said the gas crisis has triggered a shortfall of some 1,500 MW of electricity.