Load shedding increased due to intense heat

Staff Correspondent: Due to intense heat across the country, the demand for electricity has increased. But due to non-production accordingly, the load shedding has increased significantly. The power department has to do load shedding of around 400MW to 850 MW per day. Load shedding is more at midnight. Around 700 megawatts of load shedding has to be done at that time. According to the sources of the power department, the average demand of electricity was 14,500 megawatts yesterday. And at night it was like 16,500 megawatts.
According to Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) hourly electricity generation and load shedding calculations, electricity demand at 12 noon yesterday was 14,375 MW. Production is 13,660 MW. At that time load shedding is shown as 683 MW. At 4 pm yesterday, the electricity demand was 13,850 MW. Production is 13,225 MW. At that time load shedding is shown as 501 MW. Earlier at 1 am the electricity demand was 15,100 MW. The production was 14,207 MW. Load shedding is shown at 853 MW.
On June 1, due to shortfall in power demand and generation, distribution companies across the country had to carry out load shedding. At 8 pm on that day, the electricity demand was 15,850 MW. The production was 15,208 MW. Earlier at 4 pm the shortfall in power demand and generation was 691 MW.
Last week, under the impact of Cyclone Remal, nearly three-quarter crore customers under 80 Palli Vidyut Samiti in the country were without power, which is about 58 percent of the total customers. As connectivity returns to normal after the cyclone, demand continues to pick up. Among them, the demand for electricity increased due to the heatwave that swept over 16 districts of the country yesterday.
As the production is less than the demand, the distribution companies always have to carry out adjustment or load shedding. Load shedding up to three and a half to four thousand megawatts has to be done. However, the current shortage of electricity is mainly due to the gas crisis and the old distribution system. But BPDB will try to overcome it from other energy-based power plants.
BPDB Member (Distribution) Rezaul Karim told, “It is true that there is a shortfall in the demand and production of electricity. It is due to gas. PDB is already short of gas-based power generation of 2,000 MW. Where previously 7000 MW of electricity was available from gas, now 5000 MW is being produced. Apart from this, there is some problem in power supply in some areas of Mymensingh and Rangpur. But that’s not much. Efforts are underway to overcome the crisis.
The shortfall in electricity demand and production in the country is much less than the estimates of the distribution companies. Rural Electrification Board (REB) is the largest consumer in the country. Talking to several top officials of the organization and Palli Vidyut Samiti, it is known that there is a deficit of 1,500 megawatts in electricity demand and supply in REB.
Apart from rural electricity, the two distribution companies in the capital are Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited (DPDC) and Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited (DESCO). Customers of these two distribution companies also reported about load shedding.
Resident of Desco Mirpur-2 area Monirul Islam said that loadshedding is not on a large scale but is happening at midnight and early morning. Power outages in intense heat are making the situation more unbearable.
The power generation capacity in the country is about 27 thousand megawatts. At present the average demand is 14,500 megawatts. But due to lack of gas, half capacity of gas-based power plant has to be kept. On the other hand, due to the high price of fuel oil and dollar crisis, sufficient electricity is not being produced from there. Due to non-payment of bills on time, the amount of imported electricity has also decreased.
According to the data of Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), the production capacity of gas-based power plants in the country is 12,216 MW. Among them, the maximum production is six thousand megawatts. The capacity of coal based power plant is 6,604 MW. A maximum of 4,500 megawatts of electricity is available from there. Although the capacity of liquid fuel is 6,000 megawatts, on average 2,500 megawatts of electricity is being produced there. Besides, an average of 500 MW is coming from renewable energy. A little over 1,000 MW is being imported from India.