Govt aiming for record power generation this summer

The Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB) has projected the highest electricity demand during the summer months would be 18,000 megawatts (MW), while the highest production target is 17,260MW.

That means the country may face at least 740MW of load shedding. In 2024, the highest demand was projected at 17,800MW while the highest generation was 16,477MW.

However, the government said they are aiming for zero load shedding during Ramadan, when the highest power demand is projected at 15,700MW.

"We are trying for zero load shedding during Ramadan and load shedding with a small amount in the summer monsoon," said Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan, adviser to the ministry of power, energy and mineral resources, at a briefing at Bidyut Bhaban yesterday after an inter-ministerial meeting.

Zero load shedding does not mean there will be uninterrupted power supply over the country, he said.

"We will not cut power in Ramadan due to the fuel shortage."

But there may be power cuts due to other technical issues in transmission or distribution points.

After Ramadan, there may be load shedding of up to 1,400MW, he said.

According to the PDB's plan, gas supply to power plants will increase to 1,200 million cubic feet a day (mmcfd) during summer.

With that amount of gas, the PDB will be able to produce up to 6,200MW of electricity against the capacity of 11,677MW of the gas-fired power plant.

LNG imports will be ramped up in the summer months: at least four cargoes will be brought in a month, up from the usual 2-3 cargoes, he said.

"We don't want to reduce power supply to irrigation but we want to reduce the 'cooling load', which is about one-third the total power demand."

The air coolers consume about 6,000MW of total power generation during summer.

"We can't tell people not to turn on their air conditioners. But we can ask them not to keep their AC temperature at 18 degrees but at 25-26 degrees. We will engage Imams of mosques, business leaders and shop owners in this regard."

If the cooling load can be reduced, the power demand would be reduced by another 2,000MW to 3,000MW, he said.

Recently, the PDB asked for $4 billion from the finance division to keep the power supply stable during summer and the finance division has assured of providing the amount, Kabir said.

"They are overburdened too -- all the ministries sought money from them. But we discussed it with them and the higher-ups of banks as well. We can arrange the money so that the power producers do not shut the power supply."

The finance division will be prioritising funds to fertiliser, food, power and energy sectors accordingly.

If the load shedding worsens, the meeting discussed that a few steps could be taken such instructing the use of irrigation pumps between 11:00pm and 9:00am, bringing forward the closing time of shopping centres, reducing the use of excessive lighting and motivating people to rein in on excessive power usage.

The power purchase agreement of the Matarbari coal-fired power plant will be finalised, he said.

The price of electricity may be Tk 8.40 per unit, much cheaper than the existing power plants like Payra, Rampal and Adani.

"We will set the benchmark pricing for gas-fired power plants too and then start renegotiating [with others] to bring down the tariffs. We don't want to take any arbitrary decisions."