Adani supply falls below 800mw
Bangladesh’s already strained power supply has come under fresh pressure after electricity imports from Adani Power’s Godda plant in India fell by almost half following the shutdown of one of its two generating units due to a technical problem.
The plant supplied an average of around 748MW to Bangladesh on Thursday, with only Unit-1 operating, compared with about 1,430MW before Unit-2 was forced offline late on 9 September.
The disruption comes as the country struggles to meet a widening gap between electricity demand and available supply, raising concerns that the
shortfall could worsen, particularly during peak hours.
At 3am on Friday, the national grid supplied 12,907MW against demand of 15,776MW, leaving a deficit of 2,869MW.
Adani’s supply dropped to 758MW at midnight following the shutdown of Unit-2. The plant has become an important source of electricity for Bangladesh, particularly during periods of high summer demand, with its output at times exceeding 1,400MW.
Md Zahurul Islam, member (production) of the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), said a feed unit of the main water supply system linked to Unit-2 had developed a technical problem, forcing the unit to shut down at around 1am on 10 September.
“Adani informed us that the feed unit malfunctioned and became excessively hot, which prompted the forced shutdown,” he said.
According to BPDB, the affected unit must first cool down before repair work can begin.
The repair could take three to four days, meaning Bangladesh may have to manage with significantly lower imports from the plant during the period.
The feed unit, also known as a boiler feed pump, is a critical component of a thermal power plant.
It continuously pumps high-pressure water into the steam boiler, and a malfunction can disrupt boiler operation and force a generating unit to shut down as a safety measure.
The latest breakdown adds to a series of recent disruptions affecting electricity supplies from the Godda plant.
Adani Power had earlier reduced generation because of severe congestion on the railway network in India, which disrupted the transportation of coal to the plant.
The company said restrictions on coal transportation and loading had affected coal availability, prompting it to optimise generation and prioritise electricity supply during evening peak hours.
The latest technical failure therefore comes at a particularly difficult time for Bangladesh’s power sector, which is already facing a substantial gap between demand and supply.
The Godda plant has two generating units, each with an installed capacity of 800MW. Its combined actual generation capacity, however, is around 1,496MW.
With one unit now out of operation, Bangladesh has lost access to roughly half of the plant’s usual supply, increasing the pressure on other domestic and imported sources to cover the shortfall.
The authorities will now have to monitor the situation closely as repair work continues.
A prolonged outage at Godda could further strain the national grid if demand remains high and other sources are unable to make up the deficit.
The incident also highlights Bangladesh’s continued dependence on imported electricity and fuel at a time when the power sector is struggling to maintain adequate generation.
Officials expect the affected unit to return to operation after the technical problem is repaired, but the immediate loss of supply could make managing the national grid more difficult over the next several days.
