The shutdown of an 800MW unit of Adani Power’s Godda plant in India has added fresh pressure to Bangladesh’s already strained power system, coming just after Dhaka announced that Prime Minister Tarique Rahman would not attend the BRICS summit in New Delhi.

The timing of the disruption has raised questions, although there is no publicly available evidence to establish that the power supply problem was linked to Tarique’s decision not to visit India.

Adani Power’s 1,600MW Godda plant in Jharkhand has two 800MW units. One unit went offline following a technical fault reportedly involving the boiler, bringing the plant’s supply to Bangladesh down to below 750MW. The plant had supplied more than 1,400MW before the unit shutdown.

Officials said the affected unit would require cooling and repair before generation could resume. The restoration process could take several days, putting additional pressure on Bangladesh’s electricity supply during a period of high demand.
The disruption came shortly after State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humayun Kobir announced that Prime Minister Tarique Rahman would not attend the BRICS summit scheduled for September 12-13 in New Delhi.

Dhaka said Tarique had been invited to the summit in his capacity as Chair of BIMSTEC, rather than as Bangladesh’s prime minister. The government also indicated that a bilateral visit to India could take place later if a favourable environment and mutual respect were ensured.

The decision has attracted attention amid changing Bangladesh-India relations, particularly because the power disruption followed the announcement by only a short interval.

The latest technical fault was not the first problem to affect Adani’s electricity supply to Bangladesh. The Godda plant had already been generating below its full capacity due to disruptions in coal transportation in India. Railway congestion, loading restrictions and heavy rainfall had reportedly affected coal supplies to the plant, forcing it to reduce generation. The latest unit shutdown therefore came when Bangladesh’s power system was already under considerable stress.

Sun News/ra