One of two units at Adani Power’s Godda power plant in India’s Jharkhand state has shut down due to a technical fault, adding further pressure on Bangladesh’s already strained electricity supply system. Load shedding is rising in the country as a result.
The Adani power plant had been generating limited electricity for a month due to a coal shortage. After coal supply improved, output began rising Thursday evening. But around midnight, a technical fault suddenly caused one of the plant’s units to shut down.
The Power Development Board (PDB) and Power Grid Company said the Adani Power plant in India’s Jharkhand has a capacity of 1,600 megawatts. Due to coal supply problems, the plant had reduced production since August 7. While supplying about 900 megawatts during the day, it had been supplying up to about 1,200 megawatts from evening until midnight, according to demand. At one point Wednesday (September 9) night, supply exceeded 1,400 megawatts, but after midnight, one unit shut down and output dropped to 732 megawatts. At 6pm Thursday, Adani supplied 732 megawatts. On Friday, it supplied 734 megawatts at 8am, 737 at 9am, 724 at 10am and 750 megawatts at 11am.
PDB signed a power purchase agreement with Adani in 2017. The coal-based Adani power plant in Jharkhand has two units with a capacity of 800 megawatts each.
Officials involved said the plant’s boiler has developed a problem. It may take 48 hours to cool down, after which repair work will begin. As a result, it could take several days for production to increase again.
Officials said load shedding during Thursday evening’s peak hours had already exceeded 2,500 megawatts, and it could rise further today with the Adani unit offline.
Production at the plant had been gradually rising since late last month, reaching about 900 megawatts during the day and up to 1,200 megawatts in the evening.
According to the latest production data, PDB is generating about 5,000 megawatts from gas-based plants, 4,500 megawatts from coal, and 2,000 to 3,000 megawatts from liquid fuel. As a result, against demand of 16,000 megawatts, overall production remains limited to between 13,000 and 14,000 megawatts, leaving a significant supply shortfall in the power system.
Pressure on the national grid is expected to remain elevated until the shut-down unit at the Adani power plant resumes operation.