The port city of Chattogram is facing an acute power crisis marked by severe and unannounced load-shedding, disrupting both industrial production and daily life.
Power Development Board (PDB) sources said the city has been grappling with a daily electricity shortfall of 200 to 300 megawatts (MW), at times surging to 400 MW.
Industrial leaders in key manufacturing hubs such as Baizid, Kalurghat, and the Chattogram Export Processing Zone (CEPZ) have expressed deep concern, reporting heavy production losses, machinery downtime, and the risk of missing export deadlines.
According to Humayun Kabir Majumder, chief engineer of the PDB’s Chattogram Distribution Zone, the area’s daily demand ranges between 1,400 and 1,500 MW, while the supply from the national grid has consistently fallen short for over two weeks.
This is a planned and rotational power outage applied to defined geographic regions or zones. Instead of the entire service area losing power randomly, the shortage is distributed across different areas in a scheduled manner, he added.
On Wednesday, the PDB imposed a 200 MW load-shedding as supply again failed to meet the day’s demand of 1,449 MW, according to PDB sources.
The Chattogram region generated 2,362 MW of electricity on Wednesday. The SS Power Plant in Banshkhali, owned by the SAlam Group, contributed nearly half of this total with 1,170 MW.
Other significant contributors included the Matarbari plant (650 MW), the Kaptai Hydroelectric Power Station (216 MW), and the Shikolbaha plant (141 MW). Smaller solar and furnace oil-based plants generated another 185 MW.
All generated power was supplied to the national grid, from which the Chattogram zone received its allocated share for distribution, PDB officials confirmed.
BGMEA Director Enamul Aziz Chowdhury said that frequent outages have forced factories to rely heavily on generators.
“With the rise in load-shedding, factories are depending on generators to continue production. This increases system losses, fuel costs, and overall production expenses. Such frequent power cuts are severely affecting the garment sector,” he said.
Beyond industrial areas, power cuts are hitting rural and remote areas of the Chattogram region even harder.
On Sandwip Island, around 48,000 consumers require approximately 12 MW of power daily, yet the area reportedly receives only half or sometimes one-third of that amount.
Shamsul Islam, a 60-year-old resident of Sandwip, described the dire situation, “We barely get electricity for a few hours a day. It’s unbearable in this intense heat.”
His frustration reflects the growing distress of residents in remote communities, where prolonged power shortages are taking a significant toll on daily life and livelihoods.
