Nagging outages ease on power import, cooling rain

Countrywide load-shedding amid sizzling summer heat eases with increased power output and natural cooling by rain on Thursday, bringing a much-sought-after respite.
City-dwellers in Dhaka said they experienced less outage on Thursday and Wednesday compared to the previous several days.
The government, meanwhile, has diverted around 50 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of natural gas to power plants from other gas-guzzling consumers, including industries, to ramp up electricity generation from gas-fired power plants, said sources.
Electricity generation from furnace oil- fired power plants also increased as the government was "desperate to resolve the crisis", they added.
According to official data from the state-run Power Grid Corporation of Bangladesh (PGCB), country's overall electricity generation was around 12,166 megawatts at day peak hour at around 12 noon Tuesday against the demand for 14,900 MWs, resulting in a load-shedding of around 2,610 MWs.
The country imported around 1,088MW electricity on Tuesday.
Overall peak-hour electricity generation was around 12,677 MWs at around 12 noon Thursday against the demand for 14,500 MWs, resulting in a load-shedding of around 1,741 MWs.
Around 1,084 MWs of electricity was imported Thursday, according to the PGCB.
According to Petrobangla, the gas-fired power plants got around 1,193mmcfd gas on Tuesday, which rose to around 1,244mmcfd on Thursday.
Meanwhile, a UNB report said transmission from Adani's Gadda Power Plant, in the Indian state of Jharkhand, into Bangladesh's national grid resumed at 3:43 am (early hour) on Thursday.
According to official sources, the transmission line from Godda power plant tripped at 2:46 pm on Wednesday, worsening the already-severe load-shedding situation across the country.
According to officials of the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB), the operation of the Godda power plant first resumed at 11 pm on Wednesday night through sending auxiliary power from Bangladesh, and after a series of technical checks in the system, the cross-border power transmission resumed.
"Power supply from Adani's (Godda) plant became normal at 3:43 am on Thursday," said Badruddoza Sumon, spokesman for PGCB.
India's Adani Group set up the 1,600MW-capacity coal-fired power plant at Godda to exclusively supply electricity to Bangladesh. Its 800MW unit started commercial operation in March while the second unit is now on test run -- generating 50-100 MWs daily.

Azizjst@yahoo.com