Bangladesh Load Shedding Soars Amid Excelerate LNG Terminal Closure
Bangladesh has experienced an increase in power outages and a sharp drop in gas supply following the shutdown of Excelerate Energy's floating LNG terminal. Data from Wednesday reveals a massive gas deficit alongside mounting electricity shortfalls across urban and rural areas.
A critical shortage of liquefied natural gas cargoes has led to the complete shutdown of Excelerate Energy's floating liquefied natural gas terminal, commonly known as an FSRU. This operational disruption has significantly reduced national gas supplies, triggering an escalation in power outages and severe load-shedding throughout the country, including the capital city of Dhaka and various regional areas and rural settlements on Wednesday.
Official figures recorded on Wednesday highlight the severity of the energy crisis. At 12:00 PM, gas supply from two liquefied natural gas terminals into the national transmission line stood at 661 million cubic feet, while domestic gas fields contributed 1.628 billion cubic feet, bringing the total gas supply at noon to 2.289 billion cubic feet. By 6:00 PM, the contribution from liquefied natural gas terminals dropped to 562 million cubic feet, and domestic supply dipped slightly to 1.627 billion cubic feet, resulting in a total evening gas supply of 2.189 billion cubic feet.
When measured against the country's daily gas demand of approximately 3.8 billion cubic feet, the evening figures exposed a staggering gas deficit of 1.611 billion cubic feet. This severe shortage directly impacted electricity generation, compounding difficulties for power distribution networks managed by organizations such as Power Grid and Petrobangla.
Electricity generation statistics from Wednesday outline the escalating power crisis throughout the day. At 10:00 AM, electricity demand reached 14,017 megawatts against a supply of 13,900 megawatts, generating a manageable load-shedding total of 117 megawatts. However, by 7:00 PM, electricity demand surged dramatically to 17,345 megawatts while the total power supplied dropped to 14,815 megawatts, forcing a massive load-shedding volume of 2,530 megawatts.
To address the deepening energy emergency, urgent measures have been taken to secure foreign fuel supplies. A proposal for the emergency procurement of a liquefied natural gas cargo from Singapore has been formally approved through the government purchase committee, with the transaction priced at 23.93 US dollars per MMBtu, as state entities including Petrobangla, Summit, and RPGCL navigate the supply crunch.
