Gas supply shortage leads to fall in power generation
Thursday, 9 April 2009
FE Report
Power generation that reached a record 4,147 megawatt (MW) Friday last dipped by nearly 500 MW Wednesday due to inadequate gas supply affecting normal life and hampering industrial production across the country, officials said Wednesday.
All the public and private sector power plants generated nearly 3650mw of electricity Wednesday evening, power development board (PDB) said.
The demand for electricity throughout the country is over 5000MW in the peak hours (6pm-10pm).
"After closing down of Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Factory (CUFL) last week, we got increased gas supply. It boosted electricity generation Friday. But when the CUFL resumed production in the past couple of days, power generation falls again," a senior PDB official told the FE.
"The gas supply shortage has affected the electricity generation. If we get adequate gas supply power generation will increase significantly," said ASM Alamgir Kabir, acting chairman of the PDB.
Most of the power plants depend on the natural gas. The existing power stations consume about 45 per cent of the country's total gas production.
State-owned Petrobangla said the gas generation has been boosted to 1900-million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) since Tuesday due to an additional production of 70mmcfd from the Jalalabad field.
Power generation that reached a record 4,147 megawatt (MW) Friday last dipped by nearly 500 MW Wednesday due to inadequate gas supply affecting normal life and hampering industrial production across the country, officials said Wednesday.
All the public and private sector power plants generated nearly 3650mw of electricity Wednesday evening, power development board (PDB) said.
The demand for electricity throughout the country is over 5000MW in the peak hours (6pm-10pm).
"After closing down of Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Factory (CUFL) last week, we got increased gas supply. It boosted electricity generation Friday. But when the CUFL resumed production in the past couple of days, power generation falls again," a senior PDB official told the FE.
"The gas supply shortage has affected the electricity generation. If we get adequate gas supply power generation will increase significantly," said ASM Alamgir Kabir, acting chairman of the PDB.
Most of the power plants depend on the natural gas. The existing power stations consume about 45 per cent of the country's total gas production.
State-owned Petrobangla said the gas generation has been boosted to 1900-million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) since Tuesday due to an additional production of 70mmcfd from the Jalalabad field.