Technical fault shuts down Barapukuria Thermal Power Plant's sole operating unit

The only operational unit of the Barapukuria Thermal Power Plant in Parbatipur of Dinajpur, has been shut down due to a technical fault, halting electricity supply to the national grid from the facility.

Plant authorities said the fault was detected around 10pm on Wednesday, after which the unit was immediately taken offline as a precautionary measure. The unit had been supplying around 50–60 megawatts of electricity daily to the national grid.

Chief Engineer of the plant said two of the plant’s three units are currently non-operational. Unit-1 has remained shut since 2020, while Unit-3, with a generation capacity of 275 megawatts, is undergoing scheduled overhauling and is expected to resume operations within 15–20 days.

He added that the shutdown of the operating unit was caused by damage in the coal processing section after stones and foreign materials mixed with coal entered the system at the coal mill.

Repair work has already begun, and engineers expect the unit to be restored and brought back online within three to four days, officials said.