The use of electricity has increased even during the ongoing countrywide lockdown to control the corona virus spread, indicating that the country's economic activity has not collapsed, a Power Division official said.
According to Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), in March last year, the total amount of electricity used was 5,594.14 million kilowatt hours or unit.
In March this year, it increased to 7,216.17 million kilowatt hours or units. Electricity usage growth rate of this year is 29 percent compared to that last year.
Similarly, in April last year, the total electricity used was 3,454.06 million kilowatt hours or units, which increased to around 7370 million kilowatt hours or unit up to April 29 this year, it has increased to around 7400 million kilowatt hours or unit.
Electricity usage growth rate of this year is more than 40 percent compared to last year’s.
Analyzing the data on power generation, it was seen that during this time of April last year, the maximum power generation was 10,344 MW during the peak demand in the evening.
On the other hand, at the same time this year, Bangladesh has set a new record in power generation with 13,520 megawatts on April 25 evening according to the country’s demand. Earlier, the highest electricity generation was on April 15, at 9 pm, with 13,380 MW and on April 2, the highest generation was 12,893 MW. After the withdrawal of lockdown, the demand for electricity will also increase.
Engineer Mohammad Hossain, director general of Power Cell under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources said the highest demand for electricity at this time of the year was forecast to be 14,500 MW. There is a demand of about 13,500 MW. And the gap is due to the closure of education and some other establishments due to the Corona situation.
In other words, all economic activities are going on, which is conducive to the development and progress of the country. Secondly, the forecast of a maximum demand of 14,500 MW has also proved to be correct.
BPDB sources said the use of electricity in homes has increased more than usual due to the lockdown. Now the fan is running for about 20 to 22 hours throughout a day; the lights are on. AC and TV are running in parallel. Desktop-laptop is also running. There is also the pressure of online classes and virtual meetings.
According to the Power Division, when the Awami League-led government assumed office in 2009, the nation was suffering a chronic power supply crisis. Many industries, factories and business establishments shut their activities in the face of power outages and low voltage.
Those days are now gone. Bangladesh has now transformed from a power-shortage country into a power-surplus country.
The visionary leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and proper planning of her government have earned the country the colossal success in electricity generation.
In 2009, the average power demand at the time was about 6,000MW while power generation capacity of the country was less than 5000MW. Eight to ten hours load-shedding in summer days was causing unbearable miseries. Now the installed capacity has increased to 21,967 MW including imported power and renewable energy. However, its derated or actual generated capacity is 21,219MW of electricity.
However, the capacity cannot be fully utilized or power generation cannot be increased due to low demand. Besides, it is not possible to generate electricity according to the installed capacity due to limitation of transmission and distribution lines along with gas shortage.
The total electricity users was 1.08 crore in 2009, which has increased to 3.98 crore with 99% of the population having access to electricity.
The BPDB has already taken up an extensive capacity expansion plan to give a boost to the power sector, aiming to generate 40,000MW electricity by 2030.
The present government has implemented various projects to set up coal-based power plants as an alternative to natural gas. The country’s first mega power project having capacity 1320MW paya coal power plant has already started generation. Some other mega projects are being implemented at Payra, Moheshkhali and Matarbari, classifying these areas as power hubs. Besides, the construction work of Rampal 1320MW power plant is going on full swing.
The country’s first nuclear power plant is now under construction at Rooppur in Pabna. Construction work of the power plant with two units, with the total capacity of 2,400MW is going on fast. It would produce and be added to the national grid by 2023-2024. Besides, the government has planned to build the country’s second nuclear power plant in the southern region.
