Struggle to generate 16,000 mega watts, what will the electricity department do with 18,000?

The Power Department has projected a possible electricity demand of 18,000 MW next summer. Every year, the summer is accompanied by additional demand for irrigation and Ramadan. This has led to dissatisfaction among the general public across the country with electricity supply.

Last year, the maximum demand in summer was set at 16 MW. But the actual situation of the distribution system shows that the previous government was in a state of limbo in electricity supply in summer.

Those concerned said that last year's 16,000 MW was a disaster. It remains to be seen what the Power Department will do with 18,000 MW this time.

Incidentally, last year, some coal-fired power plants had to be shut down in the summer due to fuel shortages. There have also been incidents of coal supply being cut off due to inability to pay for electricity due to coal and dollar shortages. The government had also stated that it would fail to supply electricity, citing the Ukraine-Russia crisis and the fragile dollar situation. However, this time too, the price of fuel in the international market is at the same level. As a result, there are concerns about the supply of electricity in the summer.

Power department officials said that the demand for electricity will start increasing little by little from next February. In February, an additional 1,800 megawatts of electricity will be required for irrigation. Apart from this, the holy month of Ramadan will start from the beginning of March. There will also be an additional demand for electricity during this time.

This means that the demand for electricity will increase significantly from March. The demand for electricity remains the same from March to August. Of these, the highest demand is created in April, May and June, which always becomes difficult to manage.

Last year, the highest electricity production of the month was 13,337 MW on the first day of March, i.e. March 1. In the same year, the highest production of that month in April was 16,225 MW on April 23. In May, the highest production of that month was 16,435 MW on May 1, the highest production of that month in June was 15,778 MW on June 12, the highest production of that month in July was 15,233 MW on July 29, and the highest production of that month in August was 14,680 MW on August 1.

Those concerned said that the power supply situation is almost the same as last time. Only a 1320 MW coal-fired power plant in Patuakhali has come into experimental production. The plant will start its commercial production by summer. But the main problem is fuel. The previous government, instead of paying attention to domestic energy exploration, unilaterally built power plants dependent on imported fuel, which required at least one billion dollars of fuel every month in summer. The cost of which has become difficult for the Power Development Board-PDB to bear.

When asked about this, PDB Chairman Rezaul Karim said, "We have planned considering the additional demand. We have already informed the amount of fuel, i.e. gas and oil, that we will need to meet the additional electricity demand in the summer. Now that the fuel demand is met, we hope to be able to supply electricity as per the demand."

Meanwhile, energy expert Shamsul Alam said, "There has been extreme dissatisfaction among the people since the previous government. We see no reason to get out of this dissatisfaction this time too. We expected that the unjust increase in expenditure in this sector would be revealed as a result of the change in government. Instead of going in that direction, the government is moving towards increasing prices."

He also said, "A large part of the current economy depends on increasing energy supply and establishing people's ownership over it. We are not able to create a system so that people can buy their necessary goods, energy and energy-based products."