Anisul Islam Noor :
About 1500MW electricity generation is being hampered as the gas supply to power plants has been diverted to fertilizer factories to run them in full-swing to cater to the demand of the current Aman and the upcoming Boro seasons, sources said.
“Petrobangla has been supplying gas to the fertilizer factories to run them in full-swing as per the decision of the government. It (government) has taken the decision considering the fertilizer demand in the current Aman and the upcoming Boro seasons,” added the sources.
At present, the country’s electricity demand has reached around 7000MW in the peak hours while generation of is electricity is about 6400MW, with a deficit of around 600MW. But the difference between supply and demand are made up though load shedding in several times, especially from evening to midnight, they said.
As reported, load shedding is a more serious in the towns and villages than in the cities. It also affects production at the mills and factories across the country. Power failures take place four or five times a day for up to two hours each time, disrupting manufacturing units as well as educational institutions, said Abdul Hamid, a trader of Tongi in Gazipur.
“This situation could have been better if we could ensure adequate supply of gas to the power plants,” said PDB Chairman Abduhu Ruhullah.
The PDB fears that the degree of load shedding will continue to worsen due to continued shortage of gas supply.
An official of the Power Development Board (PDB) said there was 500MW of load shedding yesterday. Due to the shortage of gas supply to power plants under the PDB, it could not generate 1500 MW electricity.
At a recent meeting, Petrobangla suggested PDB to reduce gas consumption for generation of electricity because of gas shortage. Petrobangla reduced the gas supply for power generation to 800mmcf from 1000mmcf daily from September 10. Sources said that Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited (DPDC) — which covers Dhanmondi, Mohammadpur, Tejgaon, Moghbazar, Dhaka (south) and Narayanganj — had a demand of 1,100MW, against which it gets only 850MW.
The Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited (Desco) covers the areas of Mirpur, Shyamoli, Gulshan, Badda, Dhaka (north) and Tongi. Against a daily demand of around 850MW in these areas, it on an average supply only 700MW.
The PDB supplies electricity both to rural and urban areas except Dhaka, Barisal and Khulna metropolitan areas. PDB gets an average of 1,300MW against its demand of 1,400MW. The West Zone Power Distribution Company Ltd covers 21 districts, including Barisal and Khulna City in the south-western region of the country. Against a daily demand of about 850MW, the average supply is only 800MW.
The Rural Electrification Board (REB) is getting only an average of 3,200MW against its peak demand of 3,700MW.
