Power outages: Nasrul Hamid says situation to improve in 2 days

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid today said the current power outages will reduce across the country in 2 days.

Power distribution companies had to shed load due to the closure of two LNG terminals in Moheshkhali on Friday, leading to shortages in gas supply. One of the two terminals was shifted to the deep sea as a precautionary measure to avoid damages from Cyclone Mocha.

However, while talking to a press briefing at the Secretariat, the state minister said the terminal may take 10-12 days to go into production.

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The state minister said that the other terminal will be able to start its operation in two days. With the increased supply, power production in the country will also increase by then, he added.

"The impact [of the load shedding] will be there, but it will reduce. It's not going to be an unusual situation that was created [in the last three days]," said Nasrul Hamid.

In Dhaka, residents in many areas are facing electricity outages for around two to three hours. Outside Dhaka, the duration of load shedding is over three to five hours.

Almost half of the gas-fired power generation capacity is being unutilised due to gas shortage.

According to the latest data from the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh, the country has faced around 2,500 MW of load shedding today, which is almost double from the pre-cyclone period.

The country's gas demand is around 4,000 million cubic feet a day. On an average, 2,700 mmcfd to 2,800 mmcfd is being supplied from the domestic gas fields. The rest is being met by importing LNG.