Load-shedding worsens sharply

Power outages during the three-day weekend were so frequent that they prompted the state minister for power to speak about the extent of the problem yesterday.

All areas in Dhaka experienced between four to six hours of load-shedding yesterday, even after midnight, something not seen in the previous months amid the ongoing energy crisis.

Due to a gas and fuel shortage, as many as 58 power plants are not operating to their usual capacity, leading to this nighttime crisis over the past week. The production shortfall yesterday was around 4,118MW, or a third of the national demand, according to Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB) data.

"The power plants that run during the day are being kept idle at night, this is why load-shedding has increased," Nasrul Hamid, the state minister for power, energy and mineral resources, told reporters at the Secretariat yesterday.

"We hoped that from October there would be no load-shedding, but we failed as we couldn't solve the gas shortage. There will be some difficulties this month, and I hope the situation will improve from next month," he added.

The load-shedding situation worsened after the major blackout caused by the national grid failure last week, and now some power outages are happening just when people prepare to go to bed.

According to last week's load-shedding schedule, at least 42 areas in the capital saw outages between midnight and 2:00am.

The areas include Moghbazar, Malibagh, Khilgaon, Demra, Golapbagh, Postogola, Dhanmondi, Gendaria, Jurain, Ring Road, Elephant Road, Katabon, Green Road, Kalabagan, Bangla Motor, New Market, Sobhanbagh, and Niketan.

At least half of these areas saw power outages between 1:00am and 2:00am. In the previous months, these schedules did not include any outages after midnight.

This week, Dhaka Power Distribution Company has officially scheduled load-shedding after midnight in seven areas in Dhaka. It, however, left the option open for post-midnight power cuts in other areas.

Officially, the seven areas that will experience outages after midnight are Mugdapara, Madartek, Dhalpur, Jhigatola, Hazaribagh, Demra, and Ganaktuli.

The schedules for Moghbazar, Khilgaon, Rampura, Kakrail, Dhanmondi, Kamrangirchar, Paribagh, Karwan Bazar, Green Road, Agargaon and others include the caveat that load-shedding can happen between midnight and 9:00am.

Most of the areas covered by DPDC will see load-shedding between 11:00pm and midnight.

Dhaka Electric Supply Company Ltd (Desco) is yet to announce a schedule for power cuts after midnight, but as many as 62 feeders -- which distribute power from substations -- will be experiencing load-shedding between 11:00pm and midnight today.

Uttara will experience the most outages, followed by Shah Ali, Baridhara and other areas like Banani, Bashundhara, Badda, Kafrul, Mohakhali, Gabtoli, Mirpur DOHS, Mirpur-10, -12, Bhatara, and Kalyanpur.

According to the PDB, the nation would have experienced load-shedding of 1,395MW yesterday, meaning the power plants produced 10 percent less than the actual demand. The worst hit areas are in Dhaka, followed by Chattogram.

Across different unions in Banshkhali upazila, all feeders will be seeing load-shedding in turns between midnight and 7:00am while Anwara will experience power outages across 16 feeders during the period.

Areas across Chandanaish and Patia upazilas will experience outages in turns all night long.

According to DPDC and the Desco officials, there was a shortage of around 800MW in Dhaka yesterday and they had to manage it by implementing area-wise load-shedding of four to six hours.

DPDC Managing Director Bikash Dewan told The Daily Star that they faced daily shortages of around 400-500MW over the last week, up from 300-400MW in the previous week.

"We are placing the demand but not getting the supply. They [PDB] are changing the power allocation several times a day, which affects distribution," he said.

Desco MD Kausar Ameer Ali said they faced the highest 295MW shortage yesterday, the first day of the work week. The biggest shortage faced last week was 170MW.

"We have nothing to do if we don't get the proper allotment," he said.

Admitting that the schedules could not be followed, Kausar said, "We were able to maintain the schedule about 90 percent last month, but we cannot even maintain 60 percent of it now."

The situation is worse outside the capital, with some districts experiencing hourly power cuts in turn between 12:00am and 6:00am.

This includes all places under Mymensingh Palli Bidyut Samity-1 and -3, Dinajpur Palli Bidyut Samity-1, Jashore Palli Bidyut-1, Jhenidah, Kushtia, Manikganj, Laxmipur, Netrakona, and Sylhet Palli Bidyut Samity-2.

The schedule is such that residents of these areas experience up to two hours of load-shedding at night, followed by more power outages in the morning.

Just one feeder in Netrakona, servicing three unions, experiences load-shedding thrice in one night.

Other districts like Gopalganj and Joypurhat experience load-shedding a few times at night, each outage at a different feeder.

Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board yesterday scheduled daily load-shedding of up to 12 hours in Mymensingh's Muktagachha for this week.

Shewli Akhter, a resident of Tarati union of Muktagachha, told this newspaper that load-shedding happened all the time. "Power outages occur at least eight to 10 times a day."

Md Rafiqul Islam, BREB director (technical), said some areas in Savar, Gazipur and Mymensingh are experiencing severe outages. "At 5:00pm today [yesterday] there was a shortage of 800-850MW."