A strong earthquake in Dhaka caused seven large and small power plants across the country to shut down and a grid substation was also taken offline due to an incident.
However, due to low electricity demand at the time, the grid did not experience significant disruption, though it will take some time for the situation to normalize.
The Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) reported that, as of 11:50am, seven power plants and one grid substation were offline following the earthquake. Data from the remaining plants and grid facilities is still being collected.
According to BPDB sources, the earthquake caused the 341MW Summit Bibiyana power plant to shut down. Other affected units include Bibiyana-3 (400MW), Three units of 225MW, 55MW, and 50MW have been taken offline in Ashuganj.
Additionally, in Chittagong, a private SS Power 600MW plant shut down one of its units, while in Sirajganj, a 75MW unit of the 225MW power plant was taken offline. The Ghorashal grid substation also experienced a fire incident, causing 230kV, 132kV, and 33kV lines to go offline.
A senior BPDB official, speaking anonymously, said that as of 11:50am, various plants were offline, and more units could potentially trip. Restoring these plants will take time. However, with current electricity demand being low, there is no major risk of load shedding.
Earlier on Friday morning, the BPDB had reported temporary disruptions in power generation and distribution across the country due to the earthquake.
Shamim Hasan, director of public relations at BPDB, said in a message that strong earthquake tremors caused temporary interruptions in generation and supply, and efforts to normalize power production and distribution are ongoing.
The earthquake was felt at 10:38am on Friday in Dhaka and several other regions of the country.
According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the quake measured 5.5 on the Richter scale, with its epicenter in Narsingdi.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department reported the quake as magnitude 5.7, originating from Madhabdi, Narsingdi.
The earthquake has so far resulted in three deaths in the capital and caused damage to buildings in various locations.
