Desk Report; DHAKA – Amidst an ongoing electricity crisis across the country, India’s Adani Group has delivered a fresh blow to Bangladesh’s power grid.
On Wednesday afternoon, one of the two units at the Adani Power plant in Jharkhand was forced to shut down due to a mechanical fault, just 11 days after it had resumed operations.
This sudden drop in generation is expected to significantly worsen the current load shedding situation across Bangladesh.
Sudden Drop in Power Supply
According to data from Power Grid PLC of Bangladesh (PGCB), the Adani plant had been supplying nearly its maximum capacity of 1,500 MW (1,499 MW) from its two units. However, at 2:00 PM on Wednesday, the supply plummeted to roughly 700 MW following the unit failure.
The timing of the shutdown is particularly critical as rising temperatures have pushed national electricity demand to over 16,500 MW. With production unable to keep pace, the hourly load shedding gap has already been hovering between 2,000 MW and 2,500 MW.
Technical Fault and Repair Timeline
Md. Jahurul Islam, Member (Generation) of the Power Development Board (PDB), confirmed the situation to the media.
“Adani informed us that a warning signal was received from the bearing of one of the units. To avoid a major accident, production was immediately halted. It may take 3 to 4 days to complete the repairs,” he explained.
Background of the Adani-PDB Agreement
The power plant, located in Godda, Jharkhand, was built specifically to export 1,600 MW of electricity to Bangladesh via a dedicated transmission line through Rohanpur in Chapainawabganj.
The first unit began supplying 750 MW in March 2023. The PDB entered into a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Adani Power Limited in 2017 to ensure long-term energy security, but frequent technical glitches have recently made the supply inconsistent.
With one unit offline, residents across the country are being warned to brace for longer periods of power outages as the grid struggles to balance the deficit during the peak summer heat.