Large swathes of Bangladesh were left without electricity on Tuesday after a grid failure, a government official said, adding that authorities were working to gradually restore the power supply in the country of 168 million people.
The country’s power grid malfunctioned at around 2 p.m. (0800 GMT) on Tuesday, leading to blackouts across 75-80% of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Power Development Board official Shameem Hasan told Reuters. [bold, links added]
An investigation was underway to ascertain the reason for the grid’s collapse and power had been restored in 45% of the regions hit by the blackouts, he said.
By nightfall, it was still not clear when power would be fully restored.
Bangladesh, which gets three-quarters of its electricity from imported natural gas, has been facing frequent power cuts this year due to its inability to address higher power demand.
The country has rationed some gas supplies amid high global prices driven up by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The government vowed frugal spending after reporting a record fiscal deficit last year.
Over a third of the country’s 77 gas-powered units were short of fuel, government data showed on Tuesday.
Grid failures generally happen when there is a high mismatch between demand and supply, potentially due to unexpected or sudden changes in power use patterns.
Bangladesh’s peak power demand on Tuesday was 3% higher than the 13,800 MW forecast by the Bangladesh Power Development Board, according to government data.
h/t RO
Read rest at Reuters
If you don’t buy fuel for your car, it won’t run. The same is true for power plants. A power grid should be able to easily handle an unexpected 3% increase in demand.