A worsening gas shortage is fuelling a parallel power crisis in Bangladesh, with reduced fuel supplies disrupting electricity generation and triggering heavy load-shedding in Dhaka and other parts of the country.
Between Wednesday night and Thursday evening, the gap between electricity demand and supply remained substantial at several points, leaving residents facing repeated or prolonged outages. The disruption has been particularly difficult during the hot weather, when households depend heavily on fans, pumps and other electrical appliances for basic daily needs.
According to Power Grid Company of Bangladesh data, load-shedding was already severe on Wednesday night. At 9pm on 19 August, the shortfall stood at 2,266 megawatts, the highest recorded level during the period cited. It fell to 1,237 megawatts at 10pm and 1,179 megawatts at 11pm. At midnight, the deficit remained high at 1,138 megawatts.
The situation eased somewhat during the early hours of Thursday. The shortfall dropped to 912 megawatts at 1am and 696 megawatts at 2am. However, the improvement did not last. The deficit began rising again after midday, reaching 1,138 megawatts at 2pm and 1,774 megawatts at 3pm. It stood at 1,399 megawatts at 4pm and 1,297 megawatts at 5pm.
By 8pm on Thursday, load-shedding had risen again to 1,598 megawatts. Residents in several areas said they experienced outages beyond what was reflected in the official figures.
Households struggle with basic necessities
The frequent power cuts are affecting more than comfort. They are disrupting cooking, water pumping, food storage and other routine household activities.
Monika Sultana, a resident of Shantinagar, said electricity had gone out several times throughout the day amid the heat. With children and elderly people at home, she said the repeated outages had made daily life particularly difficult. There was also little certainty about when electricity would return after an outage.
In Madhubagh, resident Manmoy Mitra said electricity had gone off several times since the evening. Outages during sleeping hours were making it difficult to rest, while many residents still had to report to work the following morning. He said the situation had deteriorated further over the past few days.
The disruption has been especially frustrating for households already dealing with inadequate gas supplies. Rozina Begum, a resident of Paltan, said ordinary household activities had become difficult because fans, refrigerators and water pumps could not be operated reliably.
“Gas is unavailable, and the electricity went off just after I put rice in the rice cooker,” she said. On another occasion, she said, the electricity failed just as she switched on the water pump.
Gas shortage puts pressure on power generation
Officials attribute a significant part of the deterioration in electricity supply to the shortage of gas available for power generation.
An official of the Bangladesh Power Development Board said power plants require roughly 1,300 to 1,400 million cubic feet of gas a day. Against that requirement, only 931.87 million cubic feet was supplied on Monday. After the liquefied natural gas terminal operated by Excelerate Energy was shut, the supply available for electricity generation fell further to 892.53 million cubic feet on Wednesday.
The broader gas supply situation is also under considerable strain. Bangladesh currently has daily gas demand of around 4,000 million cubic feet. At 6pm on 20 August, total supply stood at 2,196 million cubic feet.
Of that amount, 1,626 million cubic feet came from domestic gas fields, while 570 million cubic feet was supplied to the national grid in the form of liquefied natural gas. The entire 570 million cubic feet of liquefied natural gas supply was coming through Summit’s terminal at the time.
The closure of Excelerate Energy’s terminal, linked to a shortage of cargoes, has therefore reduced the country’s access to imported liquefied natural gas. With one terminal out of operation, the remaining supply is under greater pressure to meet national requirements.
The figures indicate the scale of the imbalance. Against estimated daily demand of about 4,000 million cubic feet, supply of 2,196 million cubic feet represented a shortfall of approximately 1,804 million cubic feet — equivalent to around 45 per cent of total demand.
For the electricity sector, the consequences are immediate. Gas-fired power stations depend on a steady supply of fuel to maintain generation. When gas availability falls below operational requirements, electricity output can also decline, widening the gap between demand and available supply. Load-shedding is then used to manage that imbalance.
The current disruption has consequently created a difficult chain reaction for consumers: insufficient gas is affecting cooking and industrial activity, while the same shortage is also putting pressure on electricity generation. For households already coping with high temperatures, repeated power cuts are adding another layer of disruption to everyday life.
Unless gas supplies improve, the electricity system is likely to remain under pressure, particularly at periods when demand rises. The latest figures underline how closely the country’s gas and electricity systems are linked, and how a disruption in one can quickly translate into hardship in the other.
