The power distribution agencies will have to go for 500MW to 700MW load-shedding in Ramadan, said power secretary Mohammad Abul Kalam Azad on Sunday.
Coming out of a meeting on the power situation in Ramadan, he told reporters that the Power Division emphasised that electricity load management should focus on consumers' comfort in the month. Energy adviser Tawfique-e-Elahi Chowdhury attended the meeting.
Azad said the power distribution agencies were also instructed not to continue load-shedding of power in an area for more than half an hour at a stretch.
In reply to a query about the present power situation of the country, he claimed it was improving, compared to the situation prevailing in the previous year, as the overall electricity generation had increased.
'But, the use of air conditioners has been rising day by day, causing a significant increase in the demand for power,' he said.
Both the adviser and the secretary urged people to use fans instead of air conditioners, particularly in the mosques, so that the demand for electricity would not increase much in Ramadan.
Tawfique said the power distribution agencies were also instructed to motivate people to refrain from excessive use of light at markets, shops, community centres, mosques, etc.
Meeting sources said 179 out of the 1,663 mosques covered by the Dhaka Power Distribution Company used ACs.
Azad said 20 to 25 ACs consumed one megawatt of power.
The meeting, however, did not take any decision about whether shops and markets should be closed at 8:00pm or not as the labour and employment ministry was the proper authority to make a decision in this regard, said a Power Division official.
Azad also told the reporters that the power generation in the country would increase by around 300MW within a day or two.
He said two new power plants under the Power Development Board would start supplying power to the national grid, besides power generation would also increase in a few old plants after completion of their renovation.
Meeting sources said high officials would be at every power distribution substation and control room to monitor the power situation in Ramadan.
After the meeting, the Power Division and the PDB signed a deal with Baraka Patenga Power Limited for setting up a 50MW power plant at Patenga in Chittagong.
According to the deal, the state-run PDB will purchase power at 9.881 cents per unit (kilowatt-hour) or Tk 7.312 per unit ($1=Tk 74) for 15 years from the furnace oil-fired power plant.
The company will have to start supplying power to the national grid from October 30, 2012, otherwise it will have to count penalty per day for the delay.
Source : New Age
No comments:
Post a Comment