Gas and electricity shortages intensified across Bangladesh on Wednesday, leaving household gas stoves largely unusable for much of the day in Dhaka and other parts of the country, while load shedding expanded nationwide. Rural areas were hit hardest, with outages lasting up to 10 to 15 hours, disrupting daily life on a wide scale.
Sources said the renewed gas crisis was driven by disruptions to supply from floating LNG terminals because of rough conditions in the Bay of Bengal. Shortfalls in gas and other fuel supplies also severely affected electricity generation.
As load shedding worsened, the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Association on Wednesday appealed to the Inspector General of Police to strengthen security for power infrastructure across the country. The association also informed the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources.
Speaking to reporters at the Secretariat at noon, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Anindya Islam Amit said the power situation might improve somewhat from Wednesday evening. Anindya Islam Amit said the country had already been facing an energy crisis because of what he described as the previous government’s wrong policies, and that the situation had now been compounded by an accident at an LNG terminal and adverse weather. Anindya Islam Amit said efforts were under way to increase power and gas supply through alternative means.
Engineers from the relevant authorities of the Regasified Natural Gas Authority and Petrobangla said LNG supply on Wednesday fell by a further 200 million cubic feet from Tuesday, dropping to an average of 350 million to 400 million cubic feet a day. As a result, overall supply in the transmission line fell below 2,000 million cubic feet, the lowest level in recent times.
Petrobangla officials said rough seas caused by a low-pressure system prevented an LNG cargo from berthing at one terminal. At the other terminal, although a cargo was berthed, its stock was nearly exhausted. Combined LNG supply fell below 400 million cubic feet.
Sources said gas supply to households, CNG filling stations and rural areas had been reduced, and in some places suspended, as authorities prioritised electricity generation during the crisis. In the Noakhali region, gas supply was completely shut off from 12pm on Wednesday, affecting about 29,350 customers in the district and forcing seven CNG filling stations to close.
Nur Karim, manager of the Noakhali Engineering Division of Bakhrabad Gas, said gas supply to Noakhali, Lakshmipur and Feni through the main line from the Feni grid had been suspended from 12pm because of problems at the LNG terminal. Authorities could not confirm when normal gas supply would resume.
Monowara Begum, a resident of Lakshminarayanpur in Maijdee, the district town of Noakhali, said there had been some gas in household stoves last week despite shortages, but since Wednesday afternoon the stove had not been burning at all.
Load shedding also increased sharply as power generation fell well short of demand. Although peak summer demand had been estimated at 17,500 megawatts, it exceeded 18,000 megawatts at 9pm on Tuesday during the evening peak. Because of the gas crisis, generation at that time was 15,000 megawatts, requiring 3,000 megawatts of load shedding.
The situation worsened further on Wednesday. For most of the day and night, maximum generation remained in the range of 13,000 megawatts, leaving an average shortfall of at least 2,500 to 3,500 megawatts, or 25 to 30 percent, over 24 hours.
The impact was felt in the capital and across the country. In many parts of Dhaka, power cuts occurred five to six times for one hour each, while elsewhere outages were imposed two to three times for either one hour or half an hour. In district towns, upazila towns and villages, however, load shedding lasted 10 to 15 hours a day, making daily life especially difficult in rural areas. In many places, angry customers staged processions.
Officials and employees of rural electricity associations in different areas applied to local police stations for stronger security. In its application to the police chief, the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Association said reduced power supply caused by the energy crisis and a severe heatwave was fuelling public anger, especially in rural areas under its jurisdiction, and that some substations and offices had come under attack. The association asked the Inspector General of Police to instruct local law enforcement agencies to strengthen security at grids, substations and offices under every rural electricity association in the country.
In Domar upazila of Nilphamari, the relevant authority submitted a written application to the police station seeking tighter security and police patrols at important electricity installations amid fears for the safety of facilities and staff because of customer anger over load shedding. The application sought round-the-clock night patrols and security at the Domar Zonal Office, Substation-1 at Andharur Mor, and the Chilahati complaint centre. Officer-in-Charge Md Habibullah of Domar Police Station confirmed receipt of the application.
Md Mizanur Rahman, deputy general manager of Rangpur Rural Electrification Association-1 in Sundarganj, said the upazila needed 14 megawatts for uninterrupted electricity supply but was receiving only 6 megawatts. As a result, nearly half of the upazila remained under load shedding at all times.
In Ishwardi of Pabna, meter reader Ainul Hossain of Dashuria Zonal Office under Palli Bidyut Samity-1 was confined by local people on Tuesday afternoon at Alhaj Mor in Chargargari, Sahapur Union, because of load shedding. Mofazzal Hossain of Chargargari village said residents had become exasperated by excessive power cuts over several days and that many were also being harassed by inflated electricity bills, increasing public anger at power utility staff.
Ainul Hossain said he had stopped writing bills and left the area on the instructions of senior officials.
Abdullah Al Amin Chowdhury, general manager of Pabna Palli Bidyut Samity-1, said demand at noon on Wednesday was 79 megawatts, but only 56 megawatts had been supplied. As a result, load shedding had to be imposed at intervals of one hour or two hours.
An employee at a photocopy and computer shop in Jhenaidah town said the area was without electricity for 10 to 12 hours in every 24-hour period, forcing many customers to leave without service and reducing income sharply. The employee said the shop had previously earned Tk 3,000 to Tk 4,000 from morning to noon, but now was not earning even Tk 1,000 because of load shedding.
Md Sabuktagin, executive engineer of OJOPADICO in Jhenaidah, said demand in the district was about 39 megawatts against supply of 29 megawatts, making load shedding unavoidable in different areas.