Executive director of the Dhaka Export Processing Zone (DEPZ), Md. Shariful Islam, declared that the issue with the power supply has been fixed and that the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (REB) has taken over to guarantee the zone’s continuous electricity supply.
The entire zone was left without electricity after the gas supply to the power plant owned by United Electricity Generation and Distribution Company Limited was abruptly shut off at 1 pm on Monday. The gas supply disruption was caused by unpaid dues, according to Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company, which also noted an ongoing legal dispute pertaining to the issue.
As a result, after noon on Monday, all industrial units in DEPZ were forced to stop production and send employees home. In order to enable basic activities and security systems to continue overnight, REB made arrangements for 9 to 10 MW of electricity later that evening.
Some firms were able to begin partial production on Tuesday morning after REB started providing an extra 25 MW. Shariful Islam said that the power outage had been completely resolved by Tuesday at 6 pm. He stated, “About 70 per cent of factories resumed operations in the morning, and by the afternoon, that figure increased to 90 per cent.”
“We met with REB, and they are working appropriately,” he continued. They have already expanded their capacity in this area and taken all the required steps to guarantee a steady supply of electricity.”
According to Md. Akhtaruzzaman Laskar, senior general manager of REB Samity-1 in Dhaka, DEPZ requested that power be provided via the Kabirpur Grid. “In order to guarantee a steady supply, we have also increased substation capacity. He promised to finish any last-minute improvements today. Laskar reiterated their proactive stance, saying, “Although current capacity is sufficient, we have added more as a precaution to prevent future disruptions.”
