Staff Correspondent:

With the rising demand, electricity imports from India have increased. Currently, 17.13% of the total electricity produced in Bangladesh is coming from India. This increase in import has occurred amidst ongoing tensions between India and Bangladesh.

Recently, there have been various tensions with India regarding electricity bills. Indian media even reported that “Bangladesh is unable to pay its electricity bills.” As a result, Adani reduced production at their Jharkhand power plant by half. However, the Bangladeshi government then took initiatives to clear the dues.

When asked about importing electricity from India, Power Development Board (PDB) member (Production) Zahirul Islam told Bangla Tribune, “April and May are summer and irrigation seasons, making electricity supply a major challenge for us during this time. We try to increase production from every possible source. The increase in electricity supply from India is also for the same reason. As demand has risen, the supply has increased.”

He further said: “Electricity import from India depends on the contract. We do not consider anything else in this regard. As long as the electricity is available under the agreement and we need it, we will ask for it. Besides this, there are plans to increase production at several other power plants.”

According to the website of the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB), on Monday at 1pm, 1303 megawatts of electricity came from Adani, 907 megawatts via the Bheramara HVDC, and 42 megawatts through Tripura.

However, during peak hours at night, the amount of electricity imported increases further. On that day during the peak hour or evening, electricity coming from Adani was between 1360 and 1366 megawatts per hour. Through the HVDC substation, 915 megawatts were received. Additionally, the import from Tripura increased by 2 to 4 megawatts.

Currently, Bangladesh has the capacity to import a total of 2560 megawatts of electricity from India. Out of this, 2252 megawatts are being imported. This is reportedly the highest in history.

Although India’s HVDC substation has a daily capacity to transmit 1000 megawatts, it has never delivered more than 960 megawatts. For this reason, the government has signed a contract to import 40 megawatts of electricity from Nepal via this line.

Currently in summer, the highest demand stands between 16,000 to 16,500 megawatts. However, production is now at 15,500 megawatts. It remains to be seen how much the electricity crisis will worsen if the summer heat increases.

Although the temperature is still quite bearable, full-scale use of cooling devices has not yet become necessary. Especially since most households are not yet using air conditioners, demand hasn’t surged completely.

Generally, electricity demand is highest from mid-April to June. Based on this, in the next 7 to 10 days, if the temperature rises, demand will also increase. However, if it rains, demand may decrease. In that case, electricity-related sufferings may not increase significantly.