North Bangladesh could face power crisis as Barapukuria plant shuts down completely

Electricity generation at all three units of the Barapukuria Thermal Power Plant in Dinajpur has been suspended due to mechanical failure.

Consequently, the national grid has been deprived of about 200 MW of electricity, raising fears of load shedding and low voltage across parts of the northern region, Abu Bakar Siddique, chief engineer of the Barapukuria power plant, confirmed this evening.

According to the chief engineer, power generation at Unit-3 came to a halt on October 16 (Thursday) due to a mechanical glitch.

Despite continuous efforts on Friday and Saturday, it could not be restarted, leading to a loss of around 160–170 MW of electricity generation.

Meanwhile, Unit-1 was shut down around 9:00pm on Sunday following a boiler tube leakage. The unit had been producing 50 MW of electricity. Repairs to fix the leakage are expected to be completed within a week, the engineer added.

Discussions are underway with the Chinese manufacturer for technical support to resume production.

Unit-2, however, has been out of operation since 2020. As a result, power generation at the Barapukuria plant has now come to a complete stop.

The plant has a total production capacity of 525 MW and 125 MW each from Unit-1 and Unit-2, and 275 MW from Unit-3.

Contacted, Md Ashraful Islam Mondol, chief engineer (operations) of Northern Electricity Supply Company (Nesco) in Rangpur region, said the power previously received from Barapukuria through the national grid will now face a shortage.

"This will create challenges in meeting demand. To make up the deficit, power will have to be supplied from distant regions, which may result in poor-quality electricity and low-voltage issues due to the lack of nearby generation sources," he said.