CNG station shut boosts electricity

The country achieved a new record of electricity generation Friday as the evening shutdown of CNG stations boosted gas supply to power plants and a new rental power plant of a British company launched operation.
Plants under the Power Development Board (PDB) network generated 4,698 megawatt of power Friday, insiders say.
This is a jump of around 700 MW from what PDB could best produce even two weeks ago. Consequently, the level of load-shedding across the country has now almost halved.
The PDB continued producing over 4,600 MW yesterday which was reflected in the lesser frequency of load-shedding across the country.
But there will still be load-shedding of around 500-1,300 MW in the coming days. These figures are equivalent to a quarter to half of capital Dhaka's demand.
To achieve this improvement, the government had to take a drastic measure like shutting down the CNG stations between 3:00pm and 9:00pm every day.
While this has caused inconvenience for many people, it has actually diverted enough gas to increase 200 MW power during the evening when power demand is maximum in the day.
Earlier this year, PDB achieved a record of 4,600 MW power generation by maximising gas supply to the power plants. That move was made possible temporarily by shutting down some major fertiliser plants that run on gas.
However, for most of the times this year, PDB has been supplying around 4,000 MW power leaving enough shortfall to make people feel miserable.
The British Aggreko that signed two contracts in June to generate 200 MW power by August 20 achieved its goal on August 18. The company launched 100 MW power generation from June and supplied that to rural consumers in Khulna and Ashuganj.
From August 18, it added the remaining power to the national grid. It took Aggreko and PDB to adjust the new power plant's power supply to the national grid.
Aggreko's plants use diesel to generate power. This is why even when gas supply would deteriorate after the Ramadan, power generation from Aggreko plants would remain undisturbed.
Amid rising demands, the country has been undergoing perennial load-shedding for several years due to lack of new power projects as well as declining gas supply to the plants, most of which generate electricity using natural gas.
After the government introduced the evening shutdown of CNG stations from last Monday, gas supply to the power plants increased and accordingly power generation also increased throughout the week.
However, the two other diesel-fired rental power plants -- one in Bheramara and another in Thakurgaon -- being developed by local Otobi and Rahimafrooz have miserably failed to meet their deadlines.
These two companies were supposed to bring their plants with 160 MW capacity online from June 4. But they failed to do so till date and thus contributed to the power crisis situation.
It is not yet certain when they would be able to launch their plants as per their agreement with PDB.