National grid line failure caused power outage around 60 percent area in Bangladesh, including the capital Dhaka on Tuesday afternoon. Power was restored in three to eight hours in different areas in phases.
Authorities are yet to identify the exact cause behind the power supply failure. However, two separate probe committees have been formed under the direction of the State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid to trace the problem behind the disaster in the national grid.
"There was a problem in the transmission line. The trouble in the eastern region has already been solved, but power supply will be normalised in the shortest possible time," State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid told last evening.
He said the power supply has been normalised in several areas, but there is still trouble in Dhaka-Tongi area. The state minister said electricity supply is being restored gradually across the country.
According to officials at Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB), the transmission line tripped at 2.05 PM somewhere in the eastern part of National Grid on the east side of the Jamuna River.
Only a few districts in Rangpur division were not affected by the power failure, said a top official of PGCB.
Following the grid failure, all power plants tripped one after another and electricity supply went off in Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet, Barisal, and Mymensingh divisions.
As a result, electricity supply stopped in almost 60 percent areas of the country including Dhaka, Chattogram and Sylhet. However, power supply had been restored in some parts of the capital including Bangabhaban and Ganabhaban at about 5:00pm and the supply is being normalized in other areas in phases.
When contacted, Md. Masoom Alam Bokshi, Executive Director (O&M) of PGCB, told Bangladesh Post at 7.30 pm, electricity supply started in several areas of Dhaka, Manikganj, Gazipur, Tangail, Mymensingh, Jamalpur, Kishoreganj districts. The situation has become normalized in most of the areas in Sylhet and Chattogram.Electricity has, however, been restored in about 40 percent of the area.
“Efforts are taken to get power supply back as soon as possible. We hope that it will be possible to provide electricity to all the substations in phases by 9 pm. From there it will take some more time to gradually supply electricity to the consumer level. But we expect the entire power supply situation to be normal by Tuesday night,” he added.
Mr. Masoom Alam also said, “We could not identify the exact cause and location of the fault that triggered the grid failure. There are fault recorders at various locations in the transmission system. When any fault occurs, the cause can be detected. This can be confirmed after collecting and analyzing data from various fault recorders.”
However, a PGCB official said, "We initially think that one of the grid or electricity supply lines tripped in Ghorashal. The shutdown of that line made other line overloaded and tripped. As a result, the electricity in the eastern grid was tripped.
The last incident of grid failure happened in 32 districts on May2, 2017. Besides, on November1, 2014, the entire country experienced a blackout at 11:27 pm. There was no electricity in the whole country for 12 hours.