Bangladesh’s Interim Government Increases Power Imports from India’s Adani

Darwin, 15 September – Amid a domestic shortage of coal and gas disrupting power generation, Bangladesh’s Interim government has ramped up electricity imports from India’s Adani Group. Recently, the volume of imported electricity hit a record high.

According to data from the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB), on Sunday (during peak hours), Bangladesh imported 1,448 megawatts of electricity from Adani Power’s plant — the highest on record to date.

An analysis of PGCB data shows fluctuations in imports from Adani. On 7 September, imports stood at 1,366 MW, but just two days later, on 9 September, the figure dropped by nearly 45% to 737 MW. From 10 to 13 September, imports ranged between 745 MW and 779 MW.

PGCB also reported that from 7 to 14 September, Bangladesh imported 920 to 932 MW of electricity daily via the Bheramara interconnection point with India.

Additionally, Bangladesh is consistently importing 38 MW from Nepal and 45 to 50 MW from India’s Tripura.

Officials from the power sector say that due to a foreign currency crisis, essential fuel imports have been disrupted, preventing domestic power plants from operating at full capacity. As a result, the country is becoming increasingly reliant on electricity imports.

Speaking to Deshkal News, Power Development Board (PDB) Chairman Engr. Md. Rezaul Karim said:

“Extreme heat in the atmosphere is causing technical issues in power plants.”

A power division official, speaking on condition of anonymity, added:

“Due to a shortage of coal, we’ve had to increase imports from our partners. We hope the crisis will ease soon.”

Adani Power supplies electricity to Bangladesh from a 1,600 MW coal-fired power plant located in Godda, Jharkhand, India.

The plant began commercial operations in April 2023 under a 25-year agreement signed in 2017. However, earlier this year, supply was reduced due to payment complications and lower demand during winter.

According to PDB, rising temperatures have pushed electricity demand in Bangladesh to 16,220 MW recently.

In contrast, 2,376 MW of generation capacity is currently offline for maintenance, and another 2,650 MW is shut down due to the fuel crisis. This has severely impacted electricity supply, especially to the industrial sector.

Additionally, technical issues have forced one 600 MW unit at the Matarbari power plant, one of the country’s largest, to reduce output.

Meanwhile, due to a coal shortage, the 660 MW first unit of the Rampal power plant has been shut down completely.