Gas Shortage Deepens Power Crisis, Leaving City Residents Struggling

Bangladesh’s worsening gas shortage is now putting additional pressure on the power supply, with frequent load-shedding disrupting daily life in Dhaka and several other areas. Reduced gas availability has constrained electricity generation, widening the gap between demand and supply at a time when households are already struggling with the effects of inadequate gas supplies.

According to data from the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh, the electricity shortfall remained significant from Wednesday night, 19 August, through Thursday, 20 August. At 9pm on Wednesday, load-shedding reached 2,266 megawatts, marking the highest recorded deficit during the period covered by the data.

The shortfall stood at 1,237 megawatts at 10pm and 1,179 megawatts at 11pm. Around midnight, the deficit was 1,138 megawatts. It eased somewhat during the early hours of Thursday, falling to 912 megawatts at 1am and 696 megawatts at 2am.

The situation deteriorated again after midday. At 2pm, the deficit reached 1,138 megawatts, rising sharply to 1,774 megawatts at 3pm. It stood at 1,399 megawatts at 4pm and 1,297 megawatts at 5pm. By 8pm, load-shedding had risen again to 1,598 megawatts.

Residents in several areas, however, said the interruptions they experienced appeared to extend beyond the figures reflected in official estimates. In some neighbourhoods, electricity was cut several times a day, while in others, prolonged outages disrupted household routines.

For many families, the problem has become particularly difficult because gas shortages have already forced them to rely more heavily on electrical appliances for cooking and other domestic needs.

Residents struggle with heat and disrupted routines

Monika Sultana, a resident of Shantinagar, said electricity was going out several times throughout the day despite the intense heat. With children and elderly family members at home, she said the repeated outages had made conditions particularly difficult.

In Madhubagh, Monmoy Mitra said electricity had been interrupted several times since the evening. Power cuts during sleeping hours were making it difficult to rest, while those who had to report to work the following morning were facing additional hardship. He said the problem had become noticeably worse over the past few days.

The situation has also disrupted basic household activities in Paltan. Rozina Begum said refrigerators, fans and water pumps could not be used reliably because of the frequent power cuts.

With gas unavailable, she had turned to a rice cooker to prepare rice, only for the electricity to go out. On another occasion, she said, the power failed just after the water pump was switched on. Such interruptions mean that households are having to cope with two essential utility shortages at the same time.

Gas shortage constrains electricity generation

A Bangladesh Power Development Board official attributed a significant part of the deterioration in the power situation to the shortage of gas available for electricity generation.

Power plants require around 1,300 to 1,400 million cubic feet of gas a day to meet their generation needs, according to the official. Yet only 931.87 million cubic feet was supplied for power generation on Monday.

The supply fell further to 892.53 million cubic feet on Wednesday after the LNG terminal operated by Excelerate Energy was shut down. The closure has added pressure to an already strained gas supply system.

The wider gas market is also facing a substantial deficit. Bangladesh’s daily gas demand is currently around 4,000 million cubic feet. At 6pm on 20 August, total supply stood at 2,196 million cubic feet.

Of that amount, 1,626 million cubic feet came from domestic gas fields, while 570 million cubic feet was supplied to the national grid as liquefied natural gas. The entire LNG supply at that time was coming from Summit’s terminal.

The Excelerate terminal was forced to remain out of operation because of a shortage of cargoes, reducing LNG availability and adding to the national gas deficit. As a result, the overall shortfall stood at around 1,804 million cubic feet a day, equivalent to roughly 45 per cent of the country’s total demand.

The figures illustrate how closely Bangladesh’s gas and electricity systems are linked. When gas supplies to power plants fall, electricity generation comes under pressure, increasing the likelihood of load-shedding. At the household level, meanwhile, a shortage of cooking gas can push families towards electric appliances such as rice cookers, only for power cuts to make those alternatives unreliable.

For residents already dealing with high temperatures, the combination of gas shortages, repeated power cuts and interruptions to water pumping and other essential household services is turning a utility supply problem into a wider disruption to everyday life.