A sudden technical glitch in the national electricity grid plunged at least 21 districts across the Barishal and Khulna divisions into darkness for approximately one hour, officials reported on Saturday.
The disruption, which occurred at 5:45 PM, saw the entire Barishal division and parts of the Khulna division lose power after being abruptly disconnected from the national grid due to the unforeseen technical malfunction, according to the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh PLC (PGCB).
“Within the shortest possible time, these areas have been reconnected to the grid. The national grid situation is currently normal,” a PGCB official stated.
While initial reports suggested a longer restoration period in some areas, officials later clarified the swift progress. “Grid restoration is a continuous process, and reconnection efforts began immediately after the outage,” the PGCB official explained. “Maintaining safety protocols, grid substations and transmission lines were activated sequentially. This phased restoration meant some areas regained power within 10 to 20 minutes, with the entire restoration process taking between 45 minutes and a maximum of one hour.”
WZPDCL (West Zone Power Distribution Company Ltd.) Managing Director Mohammad Haider Ali provided further updates, stating, “Electricity has already reached 90 percent of the affected areas. Excluding Kushtia, power supply has been restored in the other six circles under WZPDCL.”
While earlier information indicated that full normalcy might take longer, the prompt action by the power authorities ensured a relatively quick return of electricity to the majority of the affected regions. The resumption of power supply from the Payra power plant also contributed to the swift recovery.