Power supply to improve in three weeks

The ongoing power outage situation will ease within the next three weeks as the interim government has initiated a host of measures to ramp up supplies.
Repair works for the Barapukuria coal-based power plant have been initiated, while Adani Power has been asked to increase the power supply, said Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan, the adviser to the ministry of power, energy and mineral resources.
Besides, the government has initiated LNG imports, he said at a view exchange meeting with the Forum for Energy Reporters Bangladesh.
Subsequently, the ongoing power outage situation will ease within the next three weeks, Khan added.
Meanwhile, Summit Group yesterday announced that its floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) is now ready for ship-to-ship transfer and regasification of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in order to send out 500 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of re-gasified LNG to the national grid.
The terminal was damaged on May 27 when the cyclone Remal hit the coastal area. Since then, it has been out of service. Several attempts were made to resume operations after repair works abroad but failed.
Subsequently, Bangladesh’s LNG supply capacity dropped to only 600 mmcfd from 1,100 mmcfd for the last three and half months, inconveniencing the power, fertiliser and industry sectors.
Considering the national importance of the FSRU to meet the demand for power, fertiliser and gas in the industrial sectors, Summit’s officials along with its international partners have been working tirelessly around the clock to resume gas supply to the national grid.
“Summit has spent millions of dollars in repair-related expenditure,” it added.
The process to purchase more LNG is ongoing, a Petrobangla official told The Daily Star. The Summit terminal will resume operation once the LNG cargo reaches Bangladesh, he added.
Power cuts are getting more frequent as power generation has failed to keep up with the high demand caused by the rising mercury since the first of this month.