The power situation in the capital continues to worsen as the mercury rises every day forcing the city dwellers to consume more electricity at home and offices.
The city dwellers are experiencing one- to two-hour-long power cuts, in cases three to four times on an average daily. The shortfall in electricity supply is mainly caused by inadequate gas supply at power stations.
Power Development Board (PDB) sources said the official load-shedding yesterday was 810 megawatts (MW). This was hovering between 350MW and 500MW a day during November and December last year.
“It is like a game…power is on and off. I am worried what will happen in the coming days when the whole country experiences the scorching heat,” says Nazrul Islam, a resident of Kathalbagan.
He said they are used to such power cuts during the summer but now the duration of load-shedding exceeds one hour and sometimes goes on for two to three hours. “Why does not the government take necessary steps to ease the ongoing power crisis?” he said.
The examinees of ongoing Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations are bearing the burnt of the crisis.
“Power is out for over an hour each time hampering my studies seriously. It is out intermittently after evenings,” complained an SSC examinee in Farmgate area.
Frequent power cuts is also interrupting smooth water supply in many parts of the city. People of Senpara Parbata in the capital’s Mirpur area yesterday barricaded a roads demanding uninterrupted water supply.
Irrigation for boro crops across the country is also being hampered due to shortage of power even though about 1,000MW of power is being used for irrigation every day. The treasury bench lawmakers Thursday discussed the issue in parliament and demanded uninterrupted supply of electricity to farmers.
About 3,282MW of power was generated in the country yesterday against a demand of 4,200MW. Around 600MW power could not be generated due to poor gas supply to many power plants, sources say.
Yesterday around 1,150MW of power was supplied to the capital against an approximate demand of 1,600MW during peak hours, sources said.
“This situation could have been better if only we could ensure adequate gas supply to power plants,” says a PDB official.
Power plants are sitting idle due to shortage of gas supply and the load-shedding could be lessened if the idle plants could generate 600MW more, he added.
According to the Met office, the city has been experiencing over 30 degrees Celsius temperature over the last week. Dhaka saw a high of 34.2 degrees Celsius yesterday while the highest temperature of the country was recorded in Jessore, 35.2. The highest temperature of Dhaka in the week was 34.4 on Thursday.
The government’s initiatives, including closure of shops after 8:00pm and asking private institutions to have their weekends sometime other than the government weekend, seems inadequate to improve the power situation.
Frequent power outages have been reported from almost all parts of the city. In Nilkhet, lights went out five times yesterday for more than an hour each time.
“Power is out four to five times a day in our area for at least an hour each time,” alleges Farzana Mahbuba, a resident of Nilkhet.
However, she experienced eight power cuts between 8:00am and 1:00pm yesterday, each outage lasting 20-30 minutes. She apprehends that the situation will worsen in the next few months when the mercury rises even further.
Residents of Dhanmondi, Kalabagan, Moghbazar, Khilgaon, Goran, Shahjahanpur, Mohammadpur, Uttara and other places in the capital are also experiencing frequent power cuts lasting more than an hour.
PDB sources say that about 838MW of power is not being generated in different power plants due to their routine maintenance.
They say the Raozan Power Plant is producing 90MW to 100MW. It has the capacity to generate 350MW of power.
Kaptai power plant is producing 90MW of power even though its capacity is 230MW. The plant is unable to generate more power due to low water level in Kaptai Lake.
They apprehend the power demand may shoot up to 5,000MW during May-June. Last year the demand reached 4,748MW during that period.
GAS SHORTAGE
Different power plants across the country are already failing to produce 550MW to 700MW of power due to non-availability or low pressure of gas.
According to Petrobangla sources, over the years demand for gas went up beyond the capacity of the existing gas delivery system. Petrobangla is now delivering more than 1,800 million cubic feet of gas a day while it believes the demand is hovering between 1,900 and 2,000 million cubic feet of gas a day.
The 1,800 million cubic feet of gas is not being supplied at optimal pressure. The need for compressors has become very urgent. Production at Ghorashal and Palash urea fertiliser factories remain suspended due to low gas pressure.
The gas shortage will worsen in June-July when new gas-fired power projects with the capacity of 700MW will come online. Their addition is unlikely to help improve the power situation.
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