‘Power woes to ease in 15 days’

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Aninda Islam Amit on Wednesday expressed optimism that Bangladesh’s electricity situation would see visible improvement within the next 15 days, as the government works to ease ongoing power and gas supply shortages.

“The government is making all-out efforts to prevent a recurrence of the power and gas supply woes experienced in August,” he said in parliament.

Replying to a supplementary question from opposition lawmaker Nurul Islam Bulbul, Amit acknowledged the hardship caused by the shortages and apologised to the people.

“I am saying this with responsibility. I do not want to hide the truth behind mere words. The people of Bangladesh are currently suffering due to electricity and gas shortages,” he said.

Amit attributed the crisis largely to the consequences of long-standing policy mistakes in the power and energy sectors, compounded by the recent crisis in the Middle East, which he said had put additional pressure on fuel supplies.

He also pointed to Bangladesh’s heavy dependence on natural gas for power generation as a major constraint.

The country’s gas-fired power plants have a combined generation capacity of around 12,000MW and require nearly 1,900 million cubic feet of gas per day (MMCFD) to operate at full capacity, the state minister said.

At present, domestic production and imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) provide around 2,300-2,700 MMCFD, he said.

Amit said increasing gas supplies to power plants could disrupt supplies to industries and households, forcing the government to maintain a balance among the power, industrial and residential sectors.

The shutdown of several power generation units has also contributed to the electricity shortage, he said.
One 616MW unit at the Payra power plant is currently out of operation due to a technical fault, while another 616MW unit at Matarbari is undergoing maintenance.

Bangladesh is also receiving less electricity than contracted from India’s Adani Group, Amit said.
Under the agreement, Bangladesh is supposed to receive 1,600MW from the group, but the actual supply is currently around 900MW during the daytime and about 1,100MW in the evening, he said.

Two floating storage regasification units (FSRUs), which handle imported LNG, also developed faults, putting further pressure on the fuel supply system.

According to Amit, the FSRU problems emerged on July 21 and took around 21-22 days to repair, affecting power generation in the process.

However, he claimed that around 88% of the crisis had already been addressed.
The government is now prioritising the reopening of the affected units at the Payra and Matarbari power plants, he said.

“We are making every possible effort so that the people of Bangladesh do not have to endure the suffering they faced in August, at least during September,” Amit said.

Looking ahead to next summer, the government is also pursuing longer-term measures, including rooftop solar, to strengthen the country’s electricity supply, he said.

Amit expressed hope that the government’s rooftop solar policy would help prevent a repeat of the severe power-related hardship experienced this year.

He said concerns raised by lawmakers over the power and energy situation were natural, adding that the government would provide parliamentarians with accurate information and work to address misunderstandings surrounding the sector.