Country in grip of severe power outages again

Massive power outages have hit the country again as power generation dropped and demand shot up because of sweltering heat in the last few days.
Most of the Dhaka city areas are facing around six to eight hours of load shedding amid sweltering heat and humidity while other parts of the country are facing around 12-18 hours of load shedding.
‘The current spell of massive power cuts is due largely to the ongoing heat spell and high humidity which have pushed up the demand,’ said a Dhaka Power Distribution Company official on Tuesday.
The Power Development Board officials said the electricity generation, especially during the evening peak hours, has reduced in the last few days because of the closure of a unit of the Rauzan power plant and gas shortage in other power plants.
The overall electricity generation was around 3,580-3,780MW during the evening hours of Monday and Tuesday against the demand for around 5,500MW. The PDB’s generation was over 3,800-3,900MW in most of the days in May.
The city areas got around 1,440MW of electricity in the last few days against demand for 2000MW. So, the power agencies are being forced to maintain load shedding for six to eight hours in each of the city areas.
Most of the city areas faced similar load shedding during March-May, when power supply to the irrigation areas was increased for boro cultivation.
Residents from different parts of the city, including Khilgaon, Rampura, Shewrapara, Mohammadpur, Razabazar, Moghbazar and Tikatuli, said their lives have become difficult because of the current spell of load shedding amid extreme heat and humidity.
‘We faced eight hours of load shedding on Monday as well as on Tuesday. Even we faced load shedding deep into the night. It’s difficult to stay at home during load shedding in the sweltering heat,’ said Zakir Ahmed, a resident of the Razabazar area.
Rahela Khatun, a housewife of the city’s Agargaon Taltala, said they faced load shedding almost every alternate hours in last three days. ‘In fact, this is the worst load shedding we have ever faced,’ she alleged.
The Dhaka Electric Supply Company officials said the frequency of load shedding in areas under the Kalyanpur sub-station is higher because of the ongoing parliament session.
‘The load shedding came down to three to four hours in some days in May because of rain. We are hopping that the load shedding will again come down once the monsoon sets in fully,’ said an official of the company.

Courtesy of NewAgebd