Adani power disruption raises fears of increased load-shedding

Due to a technical fault, the coal-based power plant of India’s Adani Group has completely stopped supplying electricity to Bangladesh. This has raised concerns about an increase in load-shedding due to a power shortage.

The first unit of the 800 MW capacity power plant in Godda, Jharkhand, has been shut down since April 8, . The second unit also stopped working around 1 AM on Friday (April 11). However, Adani Group has promised to restart one unit by Saturday (April 12) night.

The national transmission company Power Grid Bangladesh PLC (PGCB) and the Power Development Board (PDB) of Bangladesh have said that to address the ongoing power shortage, PDB has requested additional gas supplies from Petrobangla.

If the supply does not resume, load-shedding may increase further by Sunday (April 13).

PGCB and PDB officials say that the power plant was supplying up to a maximum of 1,400 MW of electricity. Even after April 8, more than 750 MW was being supplied, but now no electricity is coming.

PDB’s Member (Production), Mohammad Zahurul Islam, said that Adani is trying to fix the fault and quickly restart the first unit. He added that to meet the shortage, extra power is being generated from oil-based plants, and they have requested an increase in gas supply to meet the demand.

Bangladesh has been buying electricity from Adani’s plant for 25 years. However, the agreement signed in 2017 is currently under review by an interim government committee.