Power Development Board (PDB) appears to be oblivious to a directive issued by Power Division to prepare a report on energy balance and generation schedule ahead of the summer.
As part of their measures to meet the electricity demand during the summer, the Power Division authorities at a meeting on December 13 last year asked the PDB to prepare a report within seven workdays on the production capacity and demand during summer months.
PDB was also asked to send the report to Power Division, Power Grid Company of Bangladesh Ltd and all distribution companies across the country.
However, it has been over two months since the directive was issued, the board has not submitted the report as yet.
“We have not yet received the report. We could have given a rough estimate of energy prices and demands during the summer had we received the report on time,” said Power Cell Director Amjad Hossain.
Asked, a PDB official said they had submitted a report on the demand to Power Division. “But, it did not contain any information on energy balance,” he admitted.
“In the meantime, another meeting was held, where we did not discuss the matter. This is because we are only giving estimates of the production capacity.”
This year the demand has been estimated at 13,675MW at the distribution end. But there has been a question as to whether the government would be able to meet the ever growing demand, as power plants across the country were able to generate 9,700MW electricity.
It has estimated that about 300MMcf of electricity has to be produced every day to ensure the uninterrupted supply of power. But the PDB has not yet received the assurance of an adequate supply of gas from Petrobangla to produce the electricity.
Sources at the Energy Division said the authorities have decided not to supply gas to fertilizer factories in an effort to ensure the adequate production and supply of electricity during the summer.
This article was first published on banglatribune.com
Thursday, April 25, 2024
