State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid has said that there is no hope of improvement in the ongoing load-shedding situation in Bangladesh before November, as gas could not be imported.
He made the remark while talking to reporters at his ministry today – referring to the 5-6 hour-long load shedding throughout the day in and around Dhaka.
He said the government has to operate some power plants on an alternative basis, due to the lack of adequate fuel supply.
Read: More time needed to know why grid failed: Nasrul Hamid
“We keep some power generation units closed during daytime while others are shut down at night. That’s why the extent of load shedding has increased”, he said.
He said the Bangladesh's current load shedding situation will continue for some more days and things may improve from November.
The state minister had earlier made an assurance that after September, power supply situation would improve and there will be no load shedding from the first week of October.
Read As workweek starts, power supply situation in Dhaka worsens
When attention was drawn to his previous statement, Nasrul Hamid said that recently the demand for gas from industries has increased that prompted the government to divert some supply to them from the power plants. Production in industries has increased after the pandemic, he said.
The state minister also hinted that the situation in energy supply may persist for a longer period as the global situation is different again.
He reiterated his call to people to be more patient regarding the power and gas supply in Bangladesh.
Read Despite lower electricity demand on weekend, Dhaka residents suffer