As the power supply situation deteriorated in the recent days, the Power Division yesterday decided at power-cut during the Ramadan not more than half an hour in each spell in any area.
Ahead of the Ramadan, the country’s power generation drastically fell to 4,400 MW from an average 4,800 MW.
Many areas in cities and elsewhere face load shedding for more than 6-8 hours a day.
Against this backdrop, the Power Division yesterday held a meeting with the top executives and senior officials of different power entities at Bidduyt Bhaban with Prime Minister’s Advisor Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury in the chair to evolve a strategy to tackle the situation during Ramadan.
The meeting took a number of decisions that include load shedding will be designed on zone-basis. The senior officials will be deployed at sub-stations to monitor the situation.
The power cut will be done in a rational manner so that no particular area faces excessive load shedding.
Following the meeting, the Power Division held a separate meeting with the shop owners at the same venue. The shop owners were asked to shut their shops at 8:00pm in order to provide more electricity to the common consumers.
However, shop owners demanded a relaxation of closing time after 15th of Ramadan. But no assurance was given to them.
Following the meetings, Power Secretary Abul Kalam Azad said the people may have to experience 500-700 MW load shedding during the holy month.
He claimed that the power supply situation was improved by addition of more than 1,000 MW to the national grid. But at the same time, demand has also increased. “As a result, still people have to face load shedding. But the extent of load shedding is relatively lower than the past.”
Meanwhile, the PDB signed a contract with local private firm Barkatullah Electro Dynamics Limited (BEDL) to set up a 50 MW independent power producer plant.
As per the contract, the BEDL will set up the furnace oil-based plant at Patenga in Chittagong within next 15 months.
The PDB will purchase electricity from the plant at 9.88 cents per unit for next 15 years.
-With UNB/The Daily Star input
