Country faces longest power outage

The country faced the longest power outage yesterday, in the morning and in the afternoon, causing a serious disruption of activities all over. From 11:27am for about one hour there was no power supply from the national grid at all. Even Bangabhaban, the prime minister's office, the prime minister's residence Gonobhaban, foreign diplomatic missions and all key public institutions (KPI) faced this power cut.

Generators were used to keep up the power supply in KPIs, hospitals, airports, etc. Transmission in most TV channels where shut down due to the power cut. While some channels used generators to keep up transmission, the viewers couldn't turn on their sets without electricity.

The lack of any information regarding the sudden power outage also caused alarm among the people. Even the police's radio communications broke down.

After daylong efforts, power was restored to some areas in the afternoon, but at 4:15pm the power supply closed down again. The national grid had failed. The capital city remained in dark till midnight. This unprecedented power cut was the longest in memory.

After evening, mobile networks also began to close down. The batteries used in the mobile towers were running out of charge. The ATM booths in the cities were not functioning. Even the streets lights were out. Long lines formed outside the petrol pumps for generator fuel.

Water supply broke down. With no electricity, WASA lines had no water supply. Since the afternoon, residential houses started to face water problems. 

First of all yesterday the problem began at 11:27am with a technical glitch at the Bangladesh-India power transmission system in Bheramara, Kushtia. At the time 438mw of power was coming from India. The glitch put the entire transmission system at risk and that power supply was shut down. With 438mw of electricity cut from the national grid, a lower-frequency vacuum was created, leading to all the power plants in the country to shut down.
Auxiliary power is required to start up the power plants for which the Kaptai hydroelectric power plant was started up. But this plant closed down too within ten minutes. Then the Rural Power Company (RPCL) plant at Shambuganj, Mymensingh was started up as well as a 20mw rental power plant at Sylhet for auxiliary supply to start up the other power plants. 

The Kaptai plants then restarted but when the concerted production of all these plants reached 500mw, the national grid shut down against at 4:15pm. All the power plants shut down except the one at Kaptai.

Masum Al Beruni, Managing Director of Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PCGB) said that the work was being carried out to keep the power plants running while also trying to pinpoint the problem. Officials and employees at all levels were working on the matter. 

Previously a countrywide power failure had occurred in 2007 when a cyclone that damaged the national grid. There has been similar power outages in the past, but not as extensive as this time.

Alamgir Hossain, manager of the Bheramara grid of the Bangladesh-India transmission line, said that there was some problem at the national grid, though he was not sure if it was at Bheramara. Import of power from India would be kept closed until the national grid returned to normal. 

According to BBC Bangla, Indian Power Grid Corporation officials had said that one of the transmission lines supplying power to Bangladesh had tripped at around 11am, but the second line was kept running. They are not sure if this caused the problem in Bangladesh's power supply.

AN Naik, chairman of the Power Grid Company which supplies power from India to Bangladesh, told BBC Bangladesh that their was no problem in their line yesterday.

A committee has been formed, headed by additional secretary Ahmed Kawser of the power division, to determine the cause of the grid failure.