Dhaka: State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Aninda Islam Amit on Wednesday expressed firm optimism that the country's electricity situation will see visible improvement within the next 15 days. 'The government is making all-out efforts to prevent a recurrence of the power and gas supply woes experienced in August,' he said in Parliament.
According to United News of Bangladesh, Amit, while responding to a supplementary question from opposition lawmaker Nurul Islam Bulbul, acknowledged the hardship caused by shortages of electricity and gas and offered an apology for the situation. He admitted that the people of Bangladesh are currently suffering due to these shortages, largely attributing the ongoing crisis to long-standing policy mistakes in the power and energy sectors. He added that the recent crisis in the Middle East has further strained fuel supplies.
Amit highlighted the heavy reliance on gas for power generation in Bangladesh, noting that the country's gas-fired power plants have a combined generation capacity of around 12,000 megawatts, requiring nearly 1,900 million cubic feet of gas per day (mmcfd) to operate at full capacity. Currently, domestic production and imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) provide about 2,300 to 2,700 mmcfd. Amit mentioned that increasing gas allocation to power plants could impact supplies to industries and households, necessitating a balance among power, industrial, and residential sectors.
Several shutdowns of power generation units have also contributed to the electricity shortage. A 616MW unit of the Payra power plant is out of operation due to a technical fault, while another 616MW unit at Matarbari is undergoing maintenance. Additionally, Bangladesh is receiving less electricity than contracted from India's Adani Group, with supply figures currently lower than agreed levels.
Technical issues with two floating storage regasification units (FSRUs), which manage imported LNG, have added pressure to the fuel supply system. These problems emerged on July 21 and took around three weeks to resolve, impacting electricity generation during that period. Amit claimed that around 88 percent of the crisis has already been addressed, with the government prioritising the early reopening of affected units at the Payra and Matarbari power plants.
The state minister assured efforts to avoid a repeat of August's power sufferings in September and outlined plans for longer-term measures, such as adopting rooftop solar, to strengthen electricity supply ahead of next summer. He emphasized the natural concerns raised by lawmakers regarding the power and energy situation and committed to providing accurate information while addressing any misunderstandings in the sector.