2000mw power shortage likely in summer

People''s plight for power outages may go from bad to worse when the summers comes with full heat and humidity as the country will then experience 1500-2000 megawatts of load shedding, reports UNB.

This outlook of the already worsening power situation emerges from a yawning gap between a fast-growing electricity demand and a slow increase in power generation.

At present, the country generates about 3,600-MW-plus-minus electricity against a demand for over 4,700MW, though the demand is not officially recognized. Power Ministry officials claimed the demand is to be about 4,350 megawatts.

The Power Development Board (PDB), however, said the demand would be growing faster with the hot summer starting from May-June. From their previous experience, they said that the demand would cross 5,500 this year in the peak period of summer.

But, because of no major power plants having been installed in the last one year since the assumption of office by the post-1/11 caretaker government, the power sector is going to experience its worst time in recent years, they said.

In the past year, the government has signed deals to install a number of small power plants under different projects whose total capacity will be about 600MW. But, none of the plants has so far come into operation.

Among the projects, deals were signed to install a total of 10 small power plants, having total capacity of 200MW, 15-year-term six rental power plants having capacity of 150MW and 3-year-term an other six rental power units having a total capacity of 244MW.

But, of the plants, only the 3-year rental plants are expected to be installed and come into production by the summer. The rest will come into operation in next year.

As per schedule, the 3-year-term six rental power plants will be installed and start operation by mid-May. However, for lack of adequate gas supply, some of the projects still see uncertainty about timely production.

The country is presently experiencing 100 million cubic feet (mmcf) of gas shortage per day against a daily demand for 1,800 Mmcfd. Of the six projects, three plants, each having 50MW capacity, are planned to be set up in the greater Sylhet area-at Kumargaon, Fenchuganj and Shahjibazar.

One 40MW plant will be set up in Khulna, one 20MW plant in Bogra and one 34MW plant to be set up in Bhola. A senior official of PDB told UNB that the private sponsors who were awarded the power projects are working to install their plants in time.

"Some of the sponsors have already brought their equipment in the Chittagong port, which are now ready for transportation to their installation sites," he said.

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