Photo: Collected-
Metropolis Report –
Nasrul Hamid, Minister for Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources has briefed that the continual situation of load shedding is awaited to ease in the next two weeks.
“We have been working for the past two months to address the matter. But there are several challenges we need to tackle. The current economic situation as well as the supply of oil and gas require focused efforts,” Nasrul said while talking to reporters at the Secretariat on Sunday (4 June).
He said the issue emerges due to an insufficient supply of coal and gas. He reassured that the issue is temporary.
“There is no need to be disheartened as we are actively working for developing the condition within the next two weeks,” he added.
Currently, there is load-shedding of up to 2,500 megawatts, Nasrul Hamid said.
“Hopefully, we will be able to significantly lessen the level. We are diligently working to resolve the problem and it will be solved very soon,” he assured.
There is now no other option to remedy the supply situation, so the second unit of the 1,320 MW Payra Thermal Power Plant will shut down by Monday due to a prolonged coal shortage.
In the current environment, it is one of the key demand management plants. The 25th of May saw the closure of its first unit, which had a major impact on the southern and some of the central regions of Bangladesh’s electrical supply.
As a result of many power facilities being out of commission, according to Nasrul Hamid, the electrical crisis got worse.
The nation now has 64 furnace oil-based power plants with a total combined capacity of 5,973 MW. Due to the fuel crisis that ensued when the plant’s owners forbade the importation of energy because of a lack of funding, almost half of this facility operates at reduced capacity.
Furthermore, despite having seven coal-fired facilities with a combined capacity of 2,692 MW, the production is limited to 1,400 MW because of coal scarcity.
The country is struggling with a lack of other fuels than coal that is needed to generate electricity, which has led to hours-long load shedding nationwide and exacerbated the effects of the ongoing heatwave.
