Power generation shortfall deepens due to fuel crisis, load-shedding to cover gap

The country’s power generation has fallen short of demand due to an ongoing fuel shortage, forcing authorities to implement load-shedding across the country, the Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry said on Thursday (April 23).

Officials said peak electricity demand today is estimated at 17,000 megawatts, while generation is expected to reach only 14,000 megawatts, creating a deficit of around 3,000 megawatts.

At a press briefing at the ministry, Joint Secretary Umme Rehana said the shortfall stems mainly from insufficient fuel and gas supply, despite adequate installed capacity.

She said that on Wednesday, demand stood at 15,767 megawatts against supply of 13,681 megawatts, resulting in about 2,086 megawatts of load-shedding.

Officials noted that gas-fired power plants, which have a capacity of 12,154 megawatts, produced only 5,274 megawatts due to fuel constraints. Current gas supply is around 85–90 crore cubic feet per day, far below the 200 crore cubic feet required for full capacity operation.

The ministry said the disruption in fuel supply is partly linked to instability in global energy markets.

It also reported that several coal-based plants are facing operational disruptions. One unit of the Adani power plant remains offline for technical reasons and is expected to resume operations by April 26. Another 650-megawatt unit of SS Power in Bashkhali is also offline and may return by April 28. Overall, an additional 1,982 megawatts of power is expected to be added in early May.

Authorities said load-shedding is being managed to minimize disruption to irrigation and agricultural activities, while Dhaka city has been kept exempt from planned outages.