The grid failure of southeastern districts yesterday afternoon was caused by the shutdown of at least six power plants, including Payra and Rampal, and as a result, most of the districts in Khulna and Barishal faced power supply disruptions, according to the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources.

In a statement issued today, Mohammad Shafiullah, the ministry's public relations officer, said they have learnt primarily that the power plants shut down due to a temporary short-circuit in two circuits located about 65 kilometres away from the Aminbazar substation and about 25 kilometres from the Gopalganj substation.

"This occurred as part of the automatic protection system of the grid," the statement said.

The statement also states that as a result of the short circuit, the Payra and Rampal power plants, the 307 MW coal-based power plant in Barishal, Bhola Power Plant and Bhola Natun Bidyut were out of service for a while. Besides, a unit of the high-capacity HVDC (500 MW) in Kushtia's Bheramara, which imports electricity from India, shut down.

Total power shortage was 2,277 megawatts, the statement reads.

The statement said the ministry and the Power Grid Bangladesh PLC have formed separate probe bodies in this regard and more details will be found in the reports.

The ministry said that the power situation was stable till 5:45pm yesterday when the national power production was 14,520 MW, and the frequency was 50.4 Hz. Then a fault occurred in the Aminbazar-Gopalganj 400kV double circuit transmission line, causing a temporary power outage in Khulna and Barishal regions.

However, the 230kV Ishwardi-Bheramara-Jhenaidah line remained operational till then and using the transmission line, Jessore, Benapole, and Noapara sub-stations were restored immediately.

Later, the Aminbazar-Gopalganj-Amatali line was restored by 6:25pm, and the electricity situation returned to normal by 9:00pm when the power plants were brought back online one after another.