Power supply set to ease
- Adani, Rampal plants back in operation
Unit 2 of Adani Power’s Godda power plant in Jharkhand, India, which had shut down due to a technical fault, has resumed operation. The 800 megawatt unit was reconnected to Bangladesh’s national grid yesterday, Sunday. A source at Adani Power said the unit was successfully restarted ahead of schedule. Mr. Md. Nahid Hasan, public relations officer of Power Grid Bangladesh (PGCB), said the unit has been connected to the grid, though it will take some more time to reach full production.
Earlier, late at night on September 11, one of the plant’s two units suddenly shut down. The 800 megawatt unit had to be shut due to a technical fault in its boiler. Before the unit failed, the two units at Godda were together supplying more than 1,400 megawatts of electricity per hour. After one unit shut down, supply fell to around 758 megawatts.
Just as some relief seemed set to return with news of the Adani unit restarting, trouble struck at the Rampal coal fired power plant in Bagerhat. Due to a technical fault, one of Rampal’s two units suddenly shut down around 11:30 AM on Sunday, cutting the plant’s electricity generation by nearly half. The plant had earlier been generating more than 1,100 megawatts, which fell below 600 megawatts after the unit shut down. However, several related sources told Daily Inqilab that Rampal’s shut down unit was restarted again the same day, and the plant is now fully operational.
Meanwhile, according to the latest information on the power and energy situation, total electricity generation in the country stood at 14,647 megawatts around 4:00 PM on Sunday, against total demand of 15,768 megawatts, resulting in load shedding of 1,715 megawatts. On the other hand, according to Petrobangla data, total gas supply at 6:00 PM the same day was 2,362 million cubic feet, of which domestic supply was 1,607 million cubic feet and RLNG supply was 755 million cubic feet. This information was provided by Mr. Tariqul Islam Khan, Deputy General Manager (Public Relations) of Petrobangla, and Mr. Md. Shamim Hasan, Director of the Public Relations Department of BPDB. This data makes clear that pressure on the power and energy sector has not yet fully eased.
According to BPDB and PGCB data, Bangladesh was receiving up to about 760 megawatts from Adani early on Sunday. However, after 2:00 PM, combined supply from both units crossed 1,000 megawatts. Although the Rampal unit shutdown temporarily created some pressure, that concern eased once the unit was quickly restarted. Since Adani’s second unit resumed operation, supply from there has been gradually increasing, raising hopes that people will experience some relief in electricity supply.
Analysts in the energy and power sector say the country’s power system remains in a state where the shutdown of even a single unit creates pressure on the national grid and increases load shedding. Although power was coming from Adani, the shortfall at Rampal was largely offsetting that benefit. However, with Rampal’s unit back online and supply from Adani increasing, there is now hope that the situation will become somewhat more normal.
