Country’s power supply situation is expected to improve somewhat from Wednesday evening, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Anindya Islam Amit said.
Speaking to reporters at the Secretariat on Wednesday afternoon, the state minister expressed hope that electricity shortages would ease later in the day and apologised to consumers for the ongoing disruption.
He attributed the latest deterioration in power generation partly to disruptions in gas supplies. Rough seas in the Bay of Bengal have prevented fresh gas from being supplied to one of the country’s floating LNG terminals, while another terminal has been unable to operate at full capacity following an accident.
The resulting reduction in gas availability has affected electricity generation, the minister said. He also blamed energy-sector policies adopted by the previous government for contributing to an existing fuel shortage, which has now been compounded by the accident and adverse weather.
Authorities are working to increase electricity and gas supplies through alternative arrangements, he said, as efforts continue to stabilise the situation.
National load-shedding recently exceeded 3,000 megawatts amid the gas shortage, with rural areas particularly badly affected. Prolonged power cuts have fuelled public anger, and several incidents of attacks and vandalism have reportedly occurred at power plants and substations.
In response, the Palli Biddut Samity has sought additional security at electricity facilities in several areas amid concerns over further unrest.