Bangladesh's power-supply situation came under fresh pressure on Sunday as the second unit of the Rampal Thermal Power Plant shut down due to a technical glitch, even as electricity imports from India's Adani power plant began to increase after a brief disruption.
Adani power plant in India's Jharkhand had been operating at limited capacity for about a month due to coal shortage. Amid the situation, one of its units shut down around midnight last Wednesday because of a technical glitch, further reducing electricity generation and increasing load shedding in Bangladesh.
The shut unit was restarted on Sunday, after which the plant began increasing its supply to Bangladesh in the afternoon.
According to Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) data, Adani's power supply started increasing at 1:00pm on Sunday and reached 846 megawatts (MW) at 3:00pm. Before that, the plant had been supplying around 750 MW since last Wednesday.
However, before Adani increased its supply, the second unit of the Rampal power plant in Bagerhat shut down at around 11:30am, cutting the plant's generation capacity by half.
The first unit remains operational and continues to supply electricity to the national grid.
Anwarul Azim, general manager of the human resources department at the Rampal power plant, said it would take at least four days to restart the second unit.
He said the unit had shut down due to a technical problem and work was underway to restore it. He did not specify the exact nature of the problem.
Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) data show that the country is currently generating around 13,000-14,000 MW against peak-hour demand for more than 16,000 MW, leaving a significant supply deficit.
Gas-fired plants are generating around 5,000 MW, while coal-fired units are producing around 4,500 MW and liquid-fuel plants around 2,000-3,000 MW.
A senior BPDB official told the FE that the Payra power plant in Patuakhali was operational but its generation was being affected to some extent by maintenance work. However, another power plant in Patuakhali is now fully operational, the official added.
Sources said authorities were trying to offset the shortfall by increasing generation from oil-fired power plants. However, the additional generation has not been sufficient to fully ease pressure on the power-supply system.
Load shedding has also increased as electricity demand rises with higher temperatures, despite the summer nearing its end.
Load shedding stood at 2,139 MW at 3:00pm on Sunday before falling to 670 MW around 6:00pm as generation increased.
The 1,320-MW Rampal power plant was built at a cost of Tk 160 billion on 1,034 acres of land in Rampal upazila. The plant's first unit began production on December 23, 2022. The second unit started trial generation on October 24, 2023.
The plant officially began commercial operations on March 12, 2024. However, power generation at the plant has reportedly been suspended more than 30 times due to technical glitches and other reasons.
