At least 130 million people in Bangladesh were without power as of Tuesday (October 4th) afternoon following a grid failure that led to a blackout, the state power company said.
The network went down at 2 p.m. (10 a.m. Paris time), and with the exception of parts of northwestern Bangladesh, “the rest of the country is without electricity”said Shamim Ahsan, spokesman for the Energy Development Council. Mr. Ahsan said that more than two out of three residents were without electricity.
According to the spokesperson, the origin of this network failure is not yet known. ” The investigation is still ongoing “, he said, adding that a technical failure could be the cause. According to a message from Zunaid Palak, minister of technology, posted on Facebook, electricity supply was to be restored by 8 p.m. local time in Dhaka, the capital, which has a population of 22 million.
Serious energy crisis
Bangladesh has been suffering for several months from a serious energy crisis due to the rise in world prices of fuel and gas, following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Struggling to finance the import of diesel and gas in sufficient quantities to meet electricity demand, Dhaka had to set up “austerity measures”.
The country’s diesel-powered power plants, with a generating capacity of 1,500 megawatts, and some gas-fired power plants have been shut down. Tens of thousands of mosques across the country have been ordered to only run air conditioners during the five daily prayers. The shortages have been aggravated by the depreciation of the local currency, the taka – by about 20% against the dollar, according to economists – and the reduction in foreign exchange reserves.
The anger of the population intensified following numerous and long power cuts. At least three protesters were killed by security forces during large rallies in Dhaka against the rising cost of living. A hundred people were injured during a demonstration violently repressed by the police, according to the opposition party Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
Consumer price inflation has also hit household budgets hard, and the government has recently pledged to cap the price of several staple foods, including rice, to assuage public discontent. Bangladesh had already experienced a major power outage in November 2014, depriving about 70% of the country of electricity for almost ten hours.