Power Grid Company of Bangladesh. Photo: Collected
The summer electricity demand projections made by Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) and the power ministry differ greatly. PGCB said the highest demand was 13,700 MW on Tuesday, but the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources earlier projected the daily demand in summer would be 17,800 MW.
Dhaka on Tuesday recorded the second highest temperature since 1960. The Bangladesh Meteorological Department recorded a temperature of 40.4 degrees Celsius in Dhaka at noon.
PGCB data shows the demand was 13,325 MW on April 20, 14,345 MW on April 19, 14,625 MW on April 18, 13,425 MW on April 17, and 12,938 MW on April 16.
According to PGCB, the maximum power generation in peak hours on Tuesday was 15,500 MW against the highest demand of 13,700 MW while the Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB) said there was 1,120 MW of load-shedding.
Earlier, as part of summer preparations, the power ministry forecast a daily demand of 17,800 MW to support irrigation.
AKM Gause Mohiuddin Ahmed, managing director of PGCB, told The Daily Messenger, “Friday and Saturday are the weekend. That is why the demand on these two days is lower than that on workdays. I think the demand will increase to 17,000 MW next week.”
He added, “We are prepared to meet the demand. Everything depends on fuel supply. Gas supply has already been increased, and we are prepared for summer.”
According to the Power Division, in the last irrigation season, the peak electricity demand was 16,000 MW in April 2023. On the other hand, the overall electricity demand is likely to be 17,800 MW during the upcoming irrigation season.
At present, the total number of electricity connections for irrigation is 4,87,851, and the number of pending applications for such connections is 9,432.
The projected demand for irrigation alone was 347 MW in January 2024, 865 MW in February, 1,949 MW in March, 2,590 MW in April, and 2,590 MW in May.
Prominent energy expert Prof Shamsul Alam thinks it will be a tough challenge for the government to meet the high demand as it is already facing a crisis of primary fuel and funds.
He told The Daily Messenger, “The government has done away with agriculture subsidies, which was a suicidal decision. Electricity bills for irrigation and industries are the same.
Meanwhile, our fisheries have been affected, and protein supply declined by a significant amount.”
Prof Alam recommended the government go back to the previous master plan, which had huge subsidies for agriculture. Otherwise, food security will be under threat, he warned.
According to the BPDB, the highest single-day electricity generation in the country’s history was 15,648 MW on 19 April 2023.
Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board has projected the demand for the next irrigation season at 9,500 MW.
Muhammad Hossain, director general of Power Cell, told The Daily Messenger the government’s projection for summer is not too high.
“Only 1,500 MW more will be added to the grid than the previous year. There was load-shedding last season, and the situation will be the same this year as well.”
Messenger/Disha
