Bangladesh says must up power output or face blackouts

DHAKA (Reuters) – Bangladesh could face nationwide blackouts within four years if it fails to find more natural gas to fuel new power plants, a government official said on Friday.

Frequent power failures due to a daily power shortfall of nearly 1,500 megawatts (MW) cut the country’s gross domestic product by around $1.0 billion annually, the World Bank says, and gas reserves are running down quickly as demand multiplies.


“The situation will be further aggravated after 2011 if we are not able to discover or explore more natural gas,” Tapan Chowdhury, energy adviser to the army-backed interim government, told reporters.

Bangladesh has an installed capacity to generate 5,276 MW of power but operates only about two-thirds of that as many plants are shut for maintenance or mothballed due to their age.

Reuters