No load shedding in Bangladesh despite heat wave

Even a couple of years ago, it was unimaginable to think of a sultry April day without power outages.

As the mercury peaks up with the pre-summer heat from March, the time when ponds almost dry up and rivers run narrow, farmers across the country turn to use electricity heavily for irrigation. This has been invariably triggering load shedding during March to May for the last two decades.

However, this year's story is different: there is no load shedding.

According to the Power Development Board (PDB), power supply now stands at a historic high. It is now supplying around 8,300 megawatt of power -- a sharp 800MW jump from last year's corresponding period. And if this figure is compared to that of 2009, one will be impressed. Back then the country could avail just around 3,500MW power.

“Power supply situation is so far so good,” said a power board official. “We still cannot generate around 1,000MW power due to a lack of gas supply. And yet we are able to supply the full demand.”

Exhausted by the scorching summer heat, a green coconut vendor, instead of selling refreshing coconut water to thirsty pedestrians, takes a nap on his rickshaw van in front of Sir Salimullah Hall at Dhaka University in the capital. A heat wave is sweeping across the country and is likely to continue for a few more days, according to the Met Office. The photo was taken around 2:00pm on April 11, 2016. Photo: STAR/ Anisur Rahman

From last week, the temperature has shot up by six degrees Celsius across the country. For example, the hottest day on April 5 marked 34.2 degree Celsius, while it shot up to 40.3 degrees in Chuadanga on Sunday.

The temperature in Dhaka also jumped up to 36 degrees on Sunday from 31.2 degrees on April 5.

That means people are using more electricity to keep themselves cool.

On Sunday, the PDB supplied 8,343MW power.

The recent launching of Summit's Bibiyana 335MW power plant and addition of some new power plants last year have made it easy for the PDB to produce enough power. Plus, the country is now importing 600MW power from India. Last year this import was 500MW.

“The demand for extra power due to irrigation is around 1,800MW. This demand begins from March and it will drop from late April, ending in mid-May,” the power board official noted.

According to the Met Office, severe heat wave has been sweeping over Kushtia region while a mild to moderate heat wave is sweeping over Rajshahi and a part of Khulna divisions and the regions of Rangpur, Dinajpur, Saidpur, Dhaka, Tangail and Faridpur.

Met Office says that heat wave may continue for a few more days. According to AccuWeather.com, temperature may soar up to 42 degree Celsius in Dhaka on Pahela Baishakh, the first day of Bangla New Year. But the weather website adds that Dhaka is likely to see heavy thunderstorm and rainfall from April 15 for the next 10 days.

But from the power generation side, the PDB's forecasts remain favourable.

This year the power board will add a new 450MW gas-fired combined cycle plant in Ashuganj South. The construction of this plant, built by Inelectra Sweden and TSK of Spain, has been completed. Besides, a couple of new power plants are expected to begin partial operation within this year.

The power board expresses hope that six new gas-based power plants, totalling 2,100MW, will begin full operation from next year. These are being built in Siddhirganj, Ashuganj, Bheramara, Shahjibazar, Shikalbaha and Bibiyana South. A couple of similar projects are in limbo.

Considering that power demands shoot up by 10 percent every year, it is expected that 2017 will also be a load-shedding free year.

Meanwhile, several districts have been witnessing power outages lately. This is happening due to problems in local power distribution systems, said officials.