Industries to stop once a week
Industries grouped in seven zones will remain shut once a week from now on --each zone in turn--to help ease the acute gas supply crisis, Petrobangla sources said yesterday.
In the face of the gas crisis, business leaders agreed to this Petrobangla proposal at a meeting.
They felt that the authorities should have gone for such gas rationing before the winter set in to lessen the crisis.
The country suffers gas supply crisis every winter. But this time the crisis has become severe.
The fresh step would give some relief to households in the capital and its outskirts, which are fully dependent on gas-fired stoves for cooking. But Petrobangla officials say more measures are needed to improve gas supply to an acceptable level.
Petrobangla held the meeting with business leaders in view of proposals from Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd seeking government approval of a number of actions and interventions.
The energy ministry will hold a meeting today to discuss the proposals from Titas which include keeping CNG stations in the Titas gas supply area shut for two days a week. This would save gas totalling nearly 40 million cubic feet a day (mmcfd).
“Whether we will be able to handle this crisis within this month or not depends on the decisions of the energy ministry,” said a Titas official.
The country's main gas supplier Titas Gas Ltd is now faced with more than 200 mmcfd gas supply shortfall. The Titas gas supply area now has a demand for 1,650 mmcfd gas demand, but it is getting 1,440 mmcfd. The country's total gas consumption presently is around 2,000 mmcfd.
As a result, households in and around the capital, including Narayanganj, Munshiganj and Gazipur, are facing a major problem every day -- gas stoves are running short of breath from the morning.
Consequently, Titas officials are now being flooded with complaints from general consumers. Agitated people in different areas also staged demonstrations in the past couple of weeks demanding improvement of gas supply.
“People can go without electricity, but they can't do without gas since it is needed for cooking food,” commented a Titas official.
But it is not that only households are suffering badly. Industries, which use around 18 percent of gas from Titas systems, are also taking the blow. A dismal situation also prevails in the power sector, sources noted.
“Due to gas supply shortfall, we are unable to produce 800 megawatt of power,” says Power Development Board Chairman Alamgir Kabir. “There would not have been any load shedding this season had it not been due to low gas supply.”
At the energy ministry meeting today, various proposals of Titas will be reviewed. Titas sought permission for lowering gas supply to Siddhirganj power plant to save eight mmcfd. It can be diverted to Narayanganj.
Titas also seeks permission to suspend gas supply to the gas-fired NEPC barge-mount power plant and divert that gas to general consumers. This plant was supposed to be installed with a dual- fuel system last year so that it can operate on petroleum as well as natural gas.
Titas proposes to reduce gas supply to Ghorashal fertiliser factory to divert that gas to Dhaka.
The company requested the government to take initiatives for use of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) containers in parts of the capital where gas crisis is acute. This would help households cook conveniently.
Gas supply crisis is usual every winter as transmission pipelines narrow due to accumulation of condensate (a liquid gas by-product) for low temperature. But this year, the crisis has worsened due to a sharp rise in gas consumption.
Meanwhile, Titas has started surveying locations of old narrow gas pipelines in different areas of the capital. It had earlier decided to replace these pipelines as the number of consumers has multiplied over the years.
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