One unit of Adani closed, increased load shedding

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Heat is increasing, along with it the demand for electricity is increasing. In this time of energy crisis, the Power Development Board (PDB) is struggling to maintain production and supply as per demand. More than 2000 MW loadshedding is being done in some hours of the day for some time. Among them, a unit of the Indian company Adani’s power plant was shut down due to technical reasons. This has further increased load shedding.

Official sources in PDB and Adani said that after midnight on Tuesday, a warning signal was received from the bearings of a unit of Adani Powers power plant in India. The center’s engineers identified it by listening to the sound. Production at the unit was immediately stopped to avoid a major accident.

PDB Member (Production) Md. Zahurul Islam Prothom Alok said, due to a technical fault, production has stopped from a unit of Adani. It may take a few days to return to production.

Adani’s coal-fired power plant, built in the state of Jharkhand, India, has a capacity of 1,600 MW. In 2017, PDB signed a power purchase agreement with Adani. There are two units of 800 MW capacity here. According to PDB sources, Adani’s center has been supplying an average of 1,500 megawatts of electricity for some time. After the shutdown of one unit, the production fell to 750 to 770 MW.

After the start of the war in the Middle East on February 28, there was an energy crisis around the world. Due to lack of coal, gas and fuel oil, electricity cannot be produced as per demand in the country.

According to PDB sources, the maximum demand for electricity on Wednesday rose to 15,690 megawatts. Due to the difference between production and demand, load shedding is about 2500 megawatts. After noon, load shedding starts to increase as heat increases. This may increase during peak demand at night.

Zahurul Islam, member of PDB, said that electricity generation from furnace oil-fired power plant is being increased to deal with the situation. Diesel powered plants are also being considered.

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According to Power Grid PLC Bangladesh (PGCB) data, the country has a total of 136 power plants. Among them, 13 power plants are out of production list due to lack of gas, 9 due to lack of fuel oil and 8 for maintenance work. Of the remaining power plants, 17 are solar, from which electricity is not available at night. 5 diesel powered centers are also closed due to high cost. The power generation capacity from gas is now 12,200 MW. Due to gas crisis, more than 5,200 MW cannot be produced from there.

At the beginning of summer, the electricity demand is less than 16 thousand megawatts, but the total production is 13 thousand to 14 thousand megawatts. As a result regular load shedding has to be done to meet the deficit.

There is also tension with Adani Powers over debts. The Indian company wrote to the government a few days ago asking for quick payment of outstanding bills. Non-payment of arrears could risk disruption of uninterrupted power supply, it warned.

Adani is in dispute with PDB over the price of coal used in power plants. Adani is charging higher prices of coal. And PDB is paying the bill at market price. A writ case against Adani’s deal is pending in the country’s high court. In the meantime, the contract review committee formed by the interim government submitted a report last January after reviewing Adani’s contract on the order of the court. According to the report of the committee, information of corruption and irregularities has been found in the power purchase agreement and contract process of PDB with Adani. International lawyers appointed by the electricity department are working on this.

In 2017, PDB signed a power purchase agreement with Adani Power Limited. According to the agreement, Bangladesh will buy electricity from Adani’s power plant for 25 years.