Staff Correspondent, Dhaka
Bangladesh has reduced electricity imports from three Indian sources, despite having the capacity to import 2,656MW daily.
According to data from the Power Grid Company, as of 5am on Tuesday, the maximum electricity imported was 995MW, with even lower amounts during other times of the day.
Electricity is imported to Bangladesh from three Indian sources.
Through the Bheramara HVDC Substation, up to 1,000MW of electricity can be imported daily.
On November 30, 900MW was imported, which is the usual amount imported throughout the year due to the lower cost.
However, on December 1 at 1am, the amount was reduced to 482MW and has not increased since. On Tuesday at 3pm, 419 MW was being imported.
From Tripura, up to 160MW of electricity can be imported via Comilla daily.
However, due to cost concerns, an HVDC or back-to-back substation has not been established in Comilla.
Electricity demand in the region is typically 160MW, and Tripura supplies electricity based on prior requests.
When Tripura is unable to supply the required amount, electricity from Bangladeshi substations is used to meet the demand.
On December 3 at 3pm, 62MW was requested from Tripura, but only 48MW was supplied.
The Adani Group in Jharkhand has built a power plant capable of supplying 1,496 MW of electricity to Bangladesh daily.
A few days ago, Adani forecasted supplying 1,348MW, but as of December 3 at 5am, it supplied only 506MW.
The plant was then shut down for eight hours and resumed production at 2pm, supplying 60MW until 3, after which the supply increased to 186MW.
Over the past few days, Adani has supplied 750-800MW on average.
Indian and international media have analyzed the situation, but neither Bangladesh's PDB nor Adani has made public comments.
Khandaker Mokammel Hossain, a PDB member (production), said that the reduction is not intentional but due to the circumstances, particularly lower electricity demand in winter. This leads to reduced imports from various sources, including Adani.
He also mentioned that oil-based power plants are being used less, with gas-based plants prioritized due to higher costs associated with oil. However, some oil-based plants are still in operation due to a gas shortage.
Electricity imported from India costs around Tk5-6 per unit, while oil-based power generation costs Tk16-18 per unit.
Despite this price advantage, imports have been scaled down for operational reasons.
