Bitter Winter to Bite the Power Sector of Bangladesh

December 2023
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Published by
Bangladesh Working Group on External Debt (BWGED)

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Summary

The winter season of four months (November - February) has started in Bangladesh while the people are waiting cautiously for the upcoming parliament election in January 2024. As some major parties are yet to participate in the national election, serious political unrest in the country may impact the industrial and commercial sectors seriously. 

Consumption of power depends on those sectors, along with domestic consumption. The current installed capacity of 152 grid-connected power plants under BPDB is 25,951 MW. Other four power plants with a capacity of 729 MW are to start commercial operation by December 2023 (BPDB, 2023b). By June 2024, the installed capacity may reach 29,391 MW, which will increase the stranded asset even more. The Power sector is already suffering from a serious level of overcapacity. In July 2023, 9,747 MW of the installed capacity were kept idle, which was 64% of the peak hour generation. The overcapacity reached 106% (13,343 MW) in November. It may further increase to 149% (15,947 MW) in December 2023 and come down to 93% (13,557 MW) in March 2024 and 90% (13,955 MW) in June 2024.