Power supply faces pressure with Adani unit closure

After one unit of an Adani power plant shut down due to a mechanical fault, pressure on the Bangladesh’s electricity system has increased further. On Tuesday, the maximum load shedding during the day was 2,044 megawatts, which rose to 2,495 megawatts on Wednesday.

According to data from the Power Division over two days, the gap between national demand and supply has widened. Average load shedding has also increased from 2.9 hours to 3.7 hours. This pressure has fallen most heavily on areas dependent on the Rural Electrification Board’s supply.

Mohammad Zahurul Islam, a member of the Bangladesh Power Development Board, told bdnews24.com, “It has increased a bit since yesterday, reaching close to 2,500 megawatts. The second unit of Adani’s power plant has shut down due to a technical glitch.”

He said the unit went offline around 1:00am the day before yesterday and may take three to four days to repair and restart.

What Changed From Apr 21 to Apr 22

On Tuesday, Apr 21, at midnight, the country’s actual electricity demand was 15,174MW, while supply was 13,322MW, resulting in load shedding of 1,852 MW.

At noon, demand dropped to 14,792MW, with supply at 13,330 MW and load shedding at 1,462MW.

By 3pm, supply dropped further, increasing load shedding to 2,044 MW. At the 9pm evening peak, demand reached 15,694 MW, supply was 13,854MW, and load shedding stood at 1,840MW.

However, the situation worsened on Wednesday, Apr 22. At midnight, demand was 14,932MW, supply 12,764MW, and load shedding 2,168MW.

At noon, demand rose to 15,091MW, but supply was only 12,598MW, pushing load shedding up to 2,493 MW.

At 3pm, demand was 14,838MW, supply 12,343 MW, and load shedding peaked at 2,495MW—the highest in the two days.

At 8pm, during the evening peak, demand reached 15,767MW, supply was 13,681MW, and load shedding was 2,086MW.

This means, compared to Tuesday, the power deficit increased at almost all key times on Wednesday. At noon, load shedding jumped from 1,462MW to 2,493 MW. At 3pm, it rose from 2,044MW to 2,495MW. Average load shedding also increased by 0.8 hours.

Reasons Cited by PDB

According to the PDB official, the biggest reason behind this additional pressure is the shutdown of Adani’s unit.

“Currently, we don’t have other machines available. There are also some fuel issues and shortages, slowness, which are causing load shedding,” he said.

He added that expensive diesel-based power plants have been kept running to manage the situation. To maintain supply during exam periods, an additional 227MW was added in Khulna. Units in Haripur and Siddhirganj are running. A unit under maintenance in Chandpur has also been kept running to add 100MW. Maintenance work at Shahjibazar has been postponed until Friday to reduce pressure during exam time.

Zahurul said, “We are trying to cover peak-time shortages by running many diesel-based plants. Still, there are some problems—we cannot deny that.” he said.

Situation Worse in Rural Areas

Data from both days show a clear pattern. Urban-based distribution companies experienced relatively less load shedding, while rural electricity areas faced much higher shortages.

On Tuesday, DESCO areas had full supply at all four observed times. DPDC also had minimal shortages. However, rural electricity areas in Dhaka experienced an average of 4.5 hours of load shedding, with 620MW at 3pm alone.

The same pattern continued on Wednesday. DESCO had full supply throughout. DPDC had minor shortages at noon (6MW) and 3pm (12MW), but none at 8pm.

In contrast, rural areas in Dhaka experienced 531 MW load shedding at midnight, 601MW at noon, 546 MW at 3pm, and 439MW at 8pm. The average load shedding in these areas reached 4.8 hours.

This disparity was seen across nearly all zones.

Mymensingh, Sylhet, Rangpur, Cumilla Most Affected

The highest average load shedding was recorded in Mymensingh rural electricity areas—7.1 hours on Apr 21, rising to 7.7 hours on Apr 22.

In Sylhet, it was 5.4 hours on Apr 21 and 5.3 hours on Apr 22. In Cumilla, it rose from 4.1 to 5.1 hours. In Chattogram, from 3.6 to 5.2 hours. In Rangpur, from 4 to 5.5 hours. In Khulna, from 3.2 to 5.4 hours.

On Tuesday, the Mymensingh Rural Electrification Board area had the highest average load shedding among all zones, at 7.1 hours. On Apr 22, it increased further to 7.7 hours. On Wednesday, the supply in this area at midnight was 695MW against a demand of 1,100MW. Load shedding was 315MW. At 12:00 noon, the deficit was 349MW, at 3:00pm, 317MW, and at 8:00pm, 289MW.

Meanwhile, city or company-based areas in the same zones experienced significantly less load shedding.

Why Evenings are Worst

On Apr 21, the highest demand was at 9 PM, but the highest load shedding occurred at 3pm. The same trend was observed on Apr 22.

At 8om, demand reached 15,767MW, but load shedding was 2,086MW. At 3pm, although demand was lower (14,838 MW), supply dropped sharply, causing load shedding to peak at 2,495MW.

This shows that shortages are not driven solely by high demand. The availability of generating units, fuel stability, and outages due to maintenance or faults also play crucial roles.

Will There Be Respite In Future?

Asked when the situation might normalise, Zahurul said: “I believe things may return to normal by the middle of next week.”

This depends on commitments from power plants. Adani authorities say their unit will be operational within three to four days. S Alam (SS Power) has indicated one of its units may come online by Saturday or Sunday, he said.

If both units start, around 1,300MW will be added to the national grid.

“If these two machines come in, 1,300MW will be added. That could reduce load shedding by half,” he said.

However, he cautioned that this improvement depends on no new problems arising.

Key Takeaways from Two Days

Three points stand out from the information of the two days.

Firstly, the national power grid sees an increase in power generation and supply deficit, especially on Apr 22 .

Secondly, rural areas are bearing the brunt of load shedding, while cities face comparatively controlled outages.

Thirdly, the immediate major cause is the shutdown of one Adani unit, compounded by fuel supply constraints.

If the Adani and SS Power units resume soon, some relief is expected. However, the data shows a dual reality: relatively controlled power deficit in cities, and prolonged outages or load management in rural areas.