12-16hrs power outage a day in Barisal division
WZPDC sources say they get 200 MW against a demand for 600 MW
Load shedding, coupled with rise in f day temperature have made life miserable in 21 districts of Barisal division under the command area of West Zone Power Distribution Company (WZPDC).
Power outage stretched from 12 to 16 hours in a day while the day temperature varies between 33 and 25 Celsiou. Weather officials said yesterday the temperature may rise in next few days.
Sources in WZPDC in Barisal said power supply in 21 districts decreased to 200 MW against the minimum demanded of 600 MW, which increased power outage up to 16 hours a day.
WZPDCO officials seeking anonymity said they get only 155-175 MW power from Power Development Board (PDB) and another 90-100 MW from private power generation units for the 21 south-western districts against a daily demand for at least 600 MW.
It was scheduled that the rest of the demand would be met from the National Grid through the east-west connector, but that is a far cry, they said.
However, against a shortage of 345-355 MW, only 40 MW electricity is supplied by the Eastern Zone to Western Zone.
From this total of 275-285 MW supply a day, about 50 MW is 'lost' due to system loss and fault in the transmission lines. The rest is being supplied to the 21 districts of southwest region including Barisal electric supply region against a demand for 600 MW, they said.
According to PDB sources, Barisal electric supply region has 18 feeders under 11 KV and 4 feeders under 33 KV power distribution line with a minimum demand for 80 MW.
On Monday, total only 26 MW power was supplied from the National Grid to 18 feeders of Barisal electricity region including urban and rural areas, where the demand in Barisal city and adjacent areas alone is 40 MW, sources said.
Emergency services in hospitals, telecommunication exchanges and other public utility services like water supply are severely affected. The industries sector bears the brunt of the power outage, many businessmen said while talking to this correspondent yesterday.
The situation is worse in remote rural areas of Uzirpur, Agoiljhara, Gournadi, Babuganj, Hizla, Muladi, Mehendiganj upazilas of Barisal where farmers suffer for irrigation.
Executive engineers of Barisal Power Supply Division 1 and 2 of PDB said they have nothing to do as they only distributes whatever power they get from the National Grid.
The only hope is the gas-based under-construction 34.5 MW plant in Bhola, they said. The situation may improve if it starts generation after three-four months, they said.
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