Unusual load shedding, gas crisis may continue for two more days
Unusual load shedding across the country and disruptions to public life in Chattogram may continue for two more days, as authorities expect that it will take additional time to resume gas supply from floating storage regasification units (FSRUs).
Of the two FSRUs, one is in position while the other has been moved to a safe zone in the deep sea as a precautionary measure due to Cyclone Mocha that hit the coastal belt of Cox's Bazar on Sunday noon.
The gas supply from the floating LNG terminals was suspended at 11pm on Friday, which led to a decrease in the supply by around 650 million cubic feet of gas per day (mmcfd).
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The gas supply suspension led to a drop in power generation by 3,000MW in gas-based power plants, resulting in unusual load shedding across the country, according to the Bangladesh Power Development Board.
The board said it was producing around 6,500MW of electricity from gas-based plants until Friday.
"We are now trying to use as many fuel-based plants as possible for electricity production until the gas supply improves. To do so, we are asking the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation to supply fuel to the liquid fuel-based power plants," said SM Wazed Ali Sardar, member (Generation) of the board.
At the same time, gas-intensive businesses and household activities have been crippled in the Chattogram division, which is fully dependent on LNG.
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid, however, said the ongoing gas supply and power outage situation may improve within the next two days.
"However, it might take around 10-12 days to get the situation back to normal as one of FSRUs was moved to deep sea to avoid being hit by Cyclone Mocha," he told reporters at the Secretariat on Sunday.
There are two floating LNG facilities in the Maheshkhali of Cox's Bazar owned and operated by American Excelerate Energy and local conglomerate Summit Group.
When Cyclone Mocha hit the coastal belt of Cox's Bazar, Summit's FSRU was there, while Excelerate Energy's was taken to the deep sea close to Payra, according to different sources at these companies.
Before the supply suspension, around 650mmcfd from the LNG terminals was added to the national grid that transmitted 2,750mmcf of gas on Thursday.
But due to a fall in gas supply, electricity production has got a big hit that has impacted power supply across the country, particularly in Chattogram, Cumilla and Dhaka.
Dhaka Power Distribution Company and Rural Electrification Board and other distribution utilities said that this situation may continue for two more days.
CNG stations shut in Chattogram
Bangladesh CNG Filling Station and Conversion Workshop Owners Association said that CNG refuelling stations in Chattogram has remained completely shut since Saturday morning.
Farhan Noor, General Secretary of the association said that besides complete business shut in Chattogram, gas pressure in Dhaka's stations also fell further which has been a long problem for the sector.
"As of Sunday evening, we have not been informed of any dates and time to improve the gas supply in the CNG stations," he added
When nothing is cooking
When Farzana woke up on Sunday morning, she planned to fry a few eggs for breakfast.
Once in the kitchen, she found that there was no gas supply. She then asked her husband to run to the nearest restaurant and get breakfast.
But there was no gas in the restaurant either.
The entire city of Chattogram has been reeling from a gas crisis caused by the shutdown of the two LNG terminals.
The gas crisis in Chattogram, which began Friday, escalated as supply was completely stopped on Sunday morning.
"People have been looking for food since Fajr. But cooking was not possible in the hotel as there was no gas in the gas line," said Delwar Hossain, manager of Khwaja Restaurant in the Kazir Deuri area of the city.
"Seeing the rush of people, we are now cooking using gas cylinders. But the amount we cook every day is not possible with cylinders," he added.
Many customers also had to return empty-handed, resorting to eating chips and other dried food items.
At the same time, people opted for alternative cooking methods, including electric ovens, rice cookers, as well as kerosene stoves, ovens, and electric kettles, the prices of which also increased.
During a visit to Golam Rasul Market, a wholesale market for crockery products in the port city, it was seen that some traders had increased the prices of each electric stove by Tk300-Tk500 and rice cookers by up to Tk200-300.
Furthermore, the prices of non-stick pans were also hiked.
On the transport side, a long line of vehicles could be seen in the only CNG (Compress Natural Gas) station that was kept open in the port city on Sunday, even though the gas supply was suspended from the LNG terminals.
The lack of gas disrupted the public transportation system, with people having to pay drastically more to go the same distance.
"Normally, the maximum fare for going to Alankar from Rahattarpool is Tk20, but now the fare for going by rickshaw is Tk200," said Liton Chowdhury, an official of a private organisation.
