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Bangladesh has been re-gasifying liquefied natural gas (LNG) at the highest level ever recorded to meet the rising power demand during the ongoing Ramadan, said sources.
On Tuesday (March 18), State-run Petrobangla re-gasified LNG of around 1,022 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) - the highest volume since LNG imports began on April 24, 2018, according to official data of Petrobangla.
The previous highest RLNG was recorded on April 20, 2024 when the country re-gasified around 1,005 mmcfd of LNG during the heat wave in last summer.
Riding on the higher volume of RLNG, the country's overall electricity generation reached 14,569 megawatts (MW) during the evening peak hours on Wednesday, according to official data of state-run Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB).
According to the BPDB, the country currently doesn't have any power load-shedding as the gas-fired power plants are getting increased gas supply due to the increased volume of LNG re-gasification.
The gas-fired power plants are currently getting around 1,116 mmcfd of gas against their overall demand of around 2,420 mmcfd, according to official data
A week ago, the gas-fired power plants got only around 943 mmcfd of gas.
Bangladesh already bought four spot LNG cargoes for March delivery windows to meet the mounting natural gas demand during Ramadan, irrigation and ensuing summer.
State-run Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Ltd (RPGCL) intends to buy four or more spot LNG cargoes in April to supply more gas to the power plants for electricity generation when the country's electricity demand is predicted to soar to around 18,000 MW.
Country's both the operational floating storage and re-gasification units (FSRUs) -- owned by US company Excelerate Energy and the local Summit Group -- have the combined re-gasification capacity of 1,100 mmcfd.
As the LNG re-gasification already close to the capacity level, the scope of ramping up LNG re-gasification further from the FSRUs is slim during the ensuing summer when the temperature is set to soar scorching, a senior official of the Power Division under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR) said.
During the last summer, the highest temperature ever recorded in Dhaka was 40.6 degrees Celsius, according to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD).
Bangladesh's highest temperature during last year's heat wave, however, was recorded at 42.6 degrees Celsius in southwestern Jashore, according to the BMD.
Bangladesh's overall natural gas output is currently hovering around 2,914 mmcfd, including 1,022 mmcfd of re-gasified LNG, according to Petrobangla data as on Wednesday.
Azizjst@yahoo.com