After weeks of punishing power cuts across rural Bangladesh, the electricity crisis has now reached the capital, with residents in parts of Dhaka facing repeated outages as a severe fuel shortage pushes national load shedding beyond levels recorded during the 2023 power crisis.
The deterioration comes despite Bangladesh having far more installed generation capacity than its current electricity demand, exposing how shortages of gas, LNG and coal are leaving a substantial portion of the country’s power fleet unable to operate.
On Tuesday, peak demand stood at 18,975MW, but only 15,833MW could be supplied, leaving a shortfall of 3,142MW.
At one point on August 9, the deficit reached 3,671MW, while load shedding recently climbed as high as 3,757MW, surpassing the previous peak of 3,419MW recorded on June 27, 2023.
Dhaka, which is generally shielded from the worst of nationwide power rationing, is no longer being spared.
Power Grid Bangladesh data showed a 585MW shortage in the Dhaka zone on Tuesday against demand of 6,432MW.
Residents in different parts of the capital have reported repeated outages amid intense heat, while rural areas continue to endure much longer periods without electricity.
Children, elderly people and patients are among those suffering most, while businesses, education and essential services are also being disrupted.
The situation is considerably worse outside Dhaka.
Some areas of Sylhet are reportedly experiencing more than 10 to 12 hours of outages a day, while parts of Mymensingh have reported 10 to 18 hours without electricity.
In Barisal, shortages have resulted in more than 12 hours of load shedding in some areas.
The Rural Electrification Board, which serves around 40 million consumers, is facing an average supply deficit of about 25%. The shortage ranges from 18% in Chittagong to 31% in Mymensingh.
Fuel shortage cripples generation
At the heart of the crisis is an acute shortage of fuel.
Gas supplies were severely disrupted following problems at the LNG terminal in Moheshkhali after July 21, while difficulties unloading LNG at another terminal compounded the shortage.
Domestic gas production has also declined. The mismatch is severe.
Gas-fired power plants require around 2,524 million cubic feet of gas a day, but received only 744 million cubic feet on Tuesday.
Twenty-one power plants, 16 gas-fired and five oil-fired, are completely shut, while another 34 are operating below capacity.
Coal shortages and technical problems have added to the pressure.
Generation at the 1,320MW Patuakhali plant has fallen to around 800-1,000MW, while the 1,400MW Adani plant is supplying about 1,000MW because of coal supply constraints.
Relief uncertain
State Minister for Power Anindya Islam Amit acknowledged that LNG supply complications had made the situation difficult.
He said: “We have taken a strategy since yesterday evening. We hope that the power situation will be somewhat normal from today (August 12) evening.”
But he offered no timeline for a full recovery, saying: “Accident is accident - as a result of which we are still unable to work at full capacity from the LNG terminal. It is not possible to increase domestic production overnight, it is a long-term matter.”
Energy expert Dr Shamsul Alam said improvement would remain difficult until LNG supplies fully normalised.
He said: “The amount by which the cost of power generation has increased must be reduced. Efforts must be made to increase energy resources. Apart from this, the government has no other option.”
With load shedding now spreading into Dhaka after battering rural areas, the crisis is increasingly becoming a nationwide test of whether the government can restore fuel supplies quickly enough to bring idle generation capacity back online.