After about 5 hours of partial grid line failure, power supply was restored in west Dhaka, including Mohammadpur, Dhanmondi and Mirpur areas. “From our end, power transmission was restored at the 230 kV grid line at 10:38 am. But it takes some time to fully restore electricity supply to distribution line,” Badruddoza Sumon, public relation officer of Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB), told UNB. “We hope, gradually power supply will be restored in all areas,” he added. Shahnaz Begum, who lives on Babar Road in Mohammadpur, said that her home was without electricity as of 11 am. Also Read: Aminbazar-Agargaon grid line failure: No electricity in Mohammadpur, Mirpur areas The 230 kV grid line from Aminbazar-Agargaon failed at 5:50 am today (February 21, 2023) — leading to no electricity in the western part of Dhaka city, including the entire Mohammadpur and Mirpur areas. Officials from both PGCB and Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited  (DPDC) confirmed the development. “The grid transmission line tripped at 5:50 am,” PGCB official Sumon earlier said. Further explaining, he said due to dense fog, sometimes grid lines can break down. Read More: Committee to review existing deals on coal purchase for power generation This is not a technical fault of the system, he added. Aminbazar-Mohammadpur grid line is one of the main sources supplying electricity to some of Dhaka city’s important establishments, including the Prime Minister’s official residence and Dhaka cantonment. Power supply continued through alternative sources to those important establishments although regular consumers are without electricity.  Read More: TIB for reviewing Dhaka's power purchase deal with Adani Group

Many areas in Dhaka and Narayanganj cities plunged into darkness following a huge disruption in power supply that authorities blamed on the approaching Cyclone Sitrang.   According to officials of the Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited (DPDC) and Desco, the two entities which control the distribution network in Dhaka and Narayanganj, following a fault in Sympur, Ulan and Maniknagar grid line, many areas experienced blackouts for hours.   “Due to the grid-disruption, power supply went off in Dhanmondi, Sher-e-Banglanagar, Kakrail, and Kajla in Dhaka city and also some areas in Narayanganj city," Bikash Dewan, managing director of DPDC, told UNB.   Read Cyclone Sitrang weakens into depression   He said many areas also experienced blackouts due to the collapse of trees on the power distribution lines due to cyclone Sitrang.   Some 32 teams of DPDC have been working to restore supply in the disrupted areas, he added.   He also said that power supply came down to 700 MW from 1,400 MW following the disruption in some grid lines in DPDC areas.   As a result, consumers have been experiencing loadshedding despite relatively cool weather, he said.    Read Cyclone Sitrang: Educational institutions in 3 divisions declared closed   Desco managing director Kausar Ameer Ali noted that power supply was disrupted in Uttara, Gulshan and Mirpur areas.   “Mainly falling of trees and flying construction materials and other objects over the distribution lines led to the disruption in Desco areas,” he noted.   A good number of Desco teams are working to fix the problems and restore power supply, he added, saying consumers in his area have been experiencing loadshedding since evening due to lower supply against the demand.   Read 110 evacuated from isolated char in Bhola ahead of Sitrang landfall

After two weeks of remaining out of order, the 210 MW capacity unit-5 of Ghorashal Power Station has resumed operation. “Unit-5 of Ghorashal Power Station is in operation since yesterday and is now generating 170 MW electricity, against its installed capacity of 210 MW,” Shamim Hasan, public relations director of Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), told UNB. Ghorashal Power Station’s unit-5 went off along with other units following the National Power Grid failure on October 4, 2022. Read: Power supply in Dhaka: Until Ghorashal working in full capacity, situation won’t improve Except unit-5, almost all other units of the power station resumed operation the same day. As a result, Dhaka city and adjoining areas were getting relatively less power supply from Ghorashal. The power station plays a major role in electricity supplied to Dhaka. Due to a major technical fault, officials failed to resume power generation from unit-5 of Ghorashal. After repair, BPDB engineers managed to resume the unit’s operation at the plant yesterday (October 19, 2022). Read: PGCB names 2 suspended officials for power grid failure Power generation resumption from unit-5 will help improve the electricity supply situation in Dhaka and surrounding areas, said another BPDB official. Dhaka city and adjoining areas are still experiencing frequent load shedding due to a huge gap between power supply and demand. BPDB data shows the country’s power generation varies between 11,000 MW and 12,000 MW, following the national power grid failure on October 4, 2022 – against a demand for about 14,000 MW. Read Theft in power sector behind grid failure: Fakhrul

Demand for candles has skyrocketed with the recent endemic load shedding in Dhaka as well as across the country. Frequent load shedding, which is causing public suffering, has, however, revived candle factories – putting smiles on the faces of those involved with this business. Haji Monir, the owner of a candle factory in Dhaka’s Kamrangirchar, said that they usually get more orders for candles during religious events and festivals. However, due to the rise in both frequency and duration of load shedding over the past few months, demand for candles has increased significantly. “There were ten candle factories in this area, but only my factory is in production now,” he added. Due to the price hike of raw materials, price of candles has almost doubled. Read No hope of improvement before Nov, Nasrul Hamid says

Prime Minister’s Energy Advisor Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury has said there is no immediate solution to the existing load shedding as the government has reduced import of primary fuel to conserve foreign currency reserve. “We have to cut fuel import considering the future situation as part of the plan to conserve foreign currencies,” he told reporters on Sunday on the sideline of a seminar on the country’s development. Reinterring his call to people to be more patient and try to check any misuse of power in their consumptions, he said developed nations like Britain and Germany are now experiencing 4-5 hours of load shedding. The energy advisor said that the government had thought that Russia-Ukraine war would stop but it has not happened. Read: Load shedding: No hope of improvement before Nov, Nasrul Hamid says He said there was a plan to import 1600 MW of power from India’s Adani Group and also get 1000 MW from Rampal power plant. But transmission lines for these two projects are not ready and it will take 3-4 months more to get electricity from those. “As a result, it is unlikely to improve power supply situation very soon,” he said. He, however, said the government is trying to bring some natural gas from Bhola district and raise 1000 MW of power generation from solar energy. There is also a plan to replace some existing diesel-run irrigation pumps with solar-run irrigation system, he added.

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

Power supply situation in Dhaka city and elsewhere worsened today, as the workweek started after a three-day holiday. Officials of Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited (DPDC) and Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited (DESCO) said they have to go for more load shedding to deal with the increased demand in Dhaka city and nearby areas from this morning as offices and businesses opened. As a result, Dhaka and surrounding areas have to experience about 900 MW of power shortage, against a demand for about 2900 MW – triggering minimum 5-6 hour long load shedding throughout the day. Read: National grid failure: Power Division forms 7-member probe body During the holiday, there was 500-600 MW shortage against a demand for 2400 MW in Dhaka and adjoin areas, including Narayanganj and Tongi industrial hubs, he added. DPDC Managing Director Bikash Dewan said the areas under his company had 600 MW load shedding during daytime, since this morning. “We’re receiving 1150 MW against a demand for 1750 MW… the extent of load shedding may rise further with increasing demands due to hot weather,” he told UNB. Read: Power blackout triggers chaos in Dhaka petrol pumps Over the weekend and holiday, the load shedding was about 300 MW while demand was 1400 MW in DPDC areas.    The DPDC chief executive admitted that consumers in some areas under DPDC have been experiencing power cuts for over 5 hours a day. “Other than conveying sincere regrets, we have nothing to do… We just supply what we receive,” he said. Read Nasrul seeks JICA’s help in modernising power-gas transmission, distribution in south-western region DPDC is responsible for power distribution to the central, west and southwest parts of Dhaka city and parts of Narayanganj. Most of the key point installations (KPIs), including official residences of the president and the prime minister, cantonments and most public hospitals are located in the DPDC areas. Managing director of DESCO, Md. Kausar Ameer Ali, shared similar experience in dealing with power supply situation in his areas. Read Saving electricity: Bangladesh Bank issues notice to close evening banking “In some cases, consumers in DESCO areas have to experience over 5 hours of load shedding throughout the day,” he said, adding that the extent of load shedding is higher today compared to the last three days of holiday. DPDC distributes power to the north and eastern parts of Dhaka city and Tongi industrial hub. Kausar noted DESCO has to go for 295 MW load shedding to manage a demand for 1065 MW of electricity. He also hinted that demand for power supply in Dhaka city may rise due to hot weather. Read Focus more on generating electricity from renewable sources: Nasrul Hamid

During the weekend on Friday and Saturday when consumers expect an uninterrupted power supply against a lower electricity demand they had no luck this time. Power cuts on Friday were like a usual working day when demand for electricity soars as offices and businesses operate. Official figures show, though the situation has improved to a certain level following the restoration of power supply across the country after a 7-hour national grid failure on October 4, still the power generation could not reach the previous level. Read Saving electricity: Bangladesh Bank issues notice to close evening banking According to officials, Dhaka city and adjoining areas experienced more than 500 MW of power shortages daily against a demand of 2500 MW on Friday and Saturday. Officials of both Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited (DPDC) and Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited (Desco), which distribute electricity to Dhaka city and surrounding areas admitted that the power supply situation have deteriorated in recent days and now they have to resort to load shedding for more than 3 hours a day. However, residents in both Desco and DPDC areas alleged that they have been experiencing power cuts for 3-6 hours a day. read Focus more on generating electricity from renewable sources: Nasrul Hamid " We have been experiencing more than 5 hours of load shedding on a number of occasions”, said Abdur Rahman Jahangir, a resident of Rampura area. Similar allegations are being received from the residents of other areas under both DPDC and Desco. DPDC is managing power supply with 300 MW of less electricity in the daytime and the outage level might go up further in the night, said Bikash Dewan, managing director of the company. Read Bangladesh to sign PPA with Indian companies to purchase 500 MW electricity from Nepal DPDC is responsible for power distribution to the central and west and south-west part of Dhaka city and parts of Narayanganj. “We’ve to struggle with the relatively lower supply from the BPDB for DPDC areas where most key point installations (KPIs) including official residences of the President and the Prime Minister, cantonments and most public hospitals are located”, he told UNB. DPDC received 1,100 MW at 7 am on Saturday against a demand of 1400 MW while the demand remains between 1650 and 1700 MW on a working day, he noted. The situation was almost similar on Friday as well. Read National grid failure: Power Division forms 7-member probe body Md. Kausar Ameer Ali, managing director of Desco, which distributes power to the north and east parts of Dhaka city and Tongi industrial hub, said that the distribution entity is receiving 750 MW of electricity against a demand for 932 with a load shedding of 182 MW. "In the evening, the extent of load shedding might increase in Desco areas”, he told UNB. A top official of the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), quoting official data, said that the country’s highest power generation was 12,889 MW on Friday against a relatively lower demand of 13,900 MW while load shedding was recorded to be 1011 MW. Read Power blackout triggers chaos in Dhaka petrol pumps According to him, who preferred not to be named, the highest demand forecast for Saturday is 13,600 MW while generation forecast is 12,435 MW and load shedding is expected to be 1,165 MW across the country. The country’s total power generation capacity is about 25,500 MW. But as part of austerity measures, the government kept all the diesel-fired plants closed while a good number of plants remained out of operation for a shortage in gas supply. The official also admitted that the official figures sometimes do not rightly reflect the actual deficit in power supply as the figure is made based on the generation amount recorded at the power stations’ end. Read National power grid failure: Blackout across Bangladesh “But when the electricity reaches consumers’ end, automatically 10-13 percent of electricity is lost in the system itself as there are their own consumptions by the power stations, substations and transmission systems”, he said. So, people usually get 10-13 percent less electricity than the figure shows, he said. Meanwhile, officials of the BPDB informed that the still Ghorashal power station was not able to resume generation in full swing. Read RMG factories bearing power outages of 4 to 10 hours a day: BGMEA President The power station is generating a total 210 MW against a capacity of 700 MW as still 6 generation units, out of total 7, could not come back into generation, he said adding, the situation will improve in Dhaka when the remaining 6 units, having about a capacity of 500 MW, could add to the generation.

Most areas of Sylhet city Tuesday went through a four-hour power cut due to glitch in Kumargaon grid line.Areas of the city including Zindabazar, Bandarbazar, Chauhatta, Amberkhana, Lamabazar, Rikabibazar, Nayasarak, Kumarpara, Shibganj, Sheikhghat and Taltala had been without power supply from 7 pm to 10.50 pm. At around 8 pm the department officials informed our  correspondent about the mechanical glitch in grid line. READ: Sylhet again jolted by successive earthquakes   Khandaker Mokammel Hossain, chief engineer of the Power Development Board (PDB) Sylhet, said there were some problems with the grid line and that’s why the power supply to the three feed lines of the city were suspended. However, he could not say the cause of the glitch. In November last year, a power transformer at the substation of the national grid line in Kumargaon was burnt in a terrible fire and Sylhet had to be without electricity for almost two days. READ: Angry rickshaw pullers lay siege to Sylhet Nagar Bhaban; several cars vandalised

Sonoma,Oct 10 (AP/UNB) — More than a million people in California were without electricity Wednesday as the state's largest utility pulled the plug to prevent a repeat of the past two years when windblown power lines sparked deadly wildfires that destroyed thousands of homes.