Payra comes to complete halt to augment severe load shedding

Staff Reporter  :
Due to the shortage of coal, the Payra Thermal Power Plant, the largest power plant in the country, has completely shut down its electricity generation on Sunday, giving a weird sense of severe load shedding in the upcoming days.

The plant, which is jointly owned by China and Bangladesh under the Bangladesh-China Power Company (BCPCL), had been facing serious coal supply disruption due to the dollar crisis.
The two units of the Payra Power Plant in Patuakhali have a capacity to generate 1,320 megawatts of electricity. According to BCPCL officials, for some time now, the plant had been supplying more than 1,200 megawatts of electricity daily.

However, due to the coal shortage, one unit of the plant had to be shut down on May 25. The remaining units were generating electricity ranging from 300 to 620 megawatts per day. However, now the production has come to a complete halt.

According to sources from the Payra Power Plant, it takes at least 25 days for coal to arrive. Therefore, the electricity generation at the plant may resume by the end of June. Coal import documents have already been processed, and coal extraction is scheduled to begin on June 12.

BCPCL’s Managing Director, AM Khurshedul Alam told the media that a payment of 10 million dollars had been made towards the outstanding bills. This has given hope to the coal supplier to resume the coal supply to the
Payra Power Plant. Efforts are underway to expedite coal transportation.
Officials from the Power Development Board (PDB) state that coal had been supplying to Payra for the past three years without interruption, and even for a single day, electricity supply had not been halted.
However, the closure of this highly reliable power plant due to a shortage of coal will greatly reduce electricity generation and it will create a significant gap between electricity demand and supply, leading to increased load shedding.

On the other hand, a number of other power plants are currently unable to operate fully due to a shortage of gas and coal.
Previously, Rampal Power Plant in Bagerhat had also been shut down in two phases due to a lack of coal, but it is currently operational.

Amid such a situation, people across the country have been experiencing unbearable load shedding round the clock. The current heat wave sweeping across the country has exacerbated the situation.
The frequent load shedding is halting the industrial production, official tasks, educational activities, medical treatment and business activities, pushing the businessmen and investors to face huge loss.
On the other hand, in a bid to get some relief from the intolerable heat, the sale of charger fan, coolers and lights has increased in a huge number, albeit their prices have been increased to double folds.
While visiting the Stadium and Baitul Mokarram electronic markets, a surge in the demand for battery-charged fans, coolers, and lights was noticed reflecting the increasing need for portable and reliable solutions to cope with the rising temperatures and frequent power outages.

“Load shedding has made our life miserable. In a bid to get some relief, I have come to the Stadium market to buy a charger fan, but the price is too high. Earlier a fan was being sold at Tk 5000, now it is six to seven thousand,” a buyer Arshad Ali told the New Nation.
On the other hand, businessmen said that the demand for battery charged fans is high now and the prices have also been increased due to high demand and shortfall of supply.