The demand for electricity has increased by more than 1,000 MW in a single day. Information has been received that load shedding was done at different times of the day and night due to the inability to generate additional electricity.
On Thursday (March 13), the maximum demand was 14,421 MW at 7 pm on a working day. And on Saturday (March 15), a public holiday, the demand was 15,376 MW at 9 pm. In mid-March 2024 (March 15, 2024), the demand was 12,774 MW. That is, the demand is much higher than in previous years.
According to Power Grid Company Bangladesh (PGCB) data, the maximum demand for electricity was 15,376 MW at 9 pm on Saturday (March 15), and 15,336 MW of electricity was generated at that time. 40 MW of load shedding had to be done during the Tarawih prayers. The highest load shedding that day was 73 MW at 7 pm. Against the demand of 15,121 MW in the evening peak, 15,045 MW was produced. The load shedding was 70 MW at 3 pm on Saturday.
The first two weeks of Ramadan were a bit cold. The fans and ACs were operated without them at night. On March 15, the temperature suddenly went up. On Saturday, around 3 pm, a temperature of 36.8 degrees Celsius was recorded in Rajshahi. This is the highest temperature of the current season. And the demand for electricity immediately increased.
Power Development Board sources claimed that it was not possible to generate electricity as per the demand due to non-availability of gas as promised. 1200 million cubic feet of gas was supposed to be supplied daily during the month of Ramadan. But only 986 million cubic feet were received on Saturday.
According to the daily production report of Petrobangla, the demand for gas for electricity generation on March 15 was 2410 million cubic feet. Against which 986 million cubic feet were supplied. According to the Power Development Board, 12 power plants were shut down due to gas shortage, and 2 were shut down due to low pressure problems.
An inter-ministerial meeting was held on February 5 regarding power and energy supply during Ramadan and irrigation season. After that meeting, Adviser on Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Dr. Fawzul Kabir Khan said that a plan has been taken to keep load shedding free during Ramadan, but 700 to 1400 MW load shedding may have to be done during the summer season.
He said that 900 million cubic feet of gas is currently being supplied for power generation. 1200 million cubic feet will be supplied for the month of Ramadan and 1100 million cubic feet of gas will be supplied from April to September. This will increase power generation.
He said that the power demand during the summer and irrigation season has been estimated at 18 thousand MW. Of this, cooling (AC) load is 6 thousand MW. If we can keep the AC temperature at 25 or 26 degrees, then the demand for electricity will decrease by 2 to 3 thousand MW. Then there will be no need for load shedding.
There has been a mixed reaction to the energy adviser's statement on the temperature of the AC. Some have claimed that if the AC is kept at a temperature of 25 degrees, it starts giving hot air. The adviser's statement is not scientifically sound.
Currently, the electricity generation capacity is 26,609 MW. Of this, gas-based power plants have 12,130 MW, coal-based 6,951 MW, furnace oil 5,503 MW, diesel 286 MW and imported 1,160 MW. The record for the highest electricity generation is 16,435 MW on May 1, 2024. Although 18,000 MW of electricity has been promised this time, questions remain about how much the transmission and distribution system is capable of receiving