Power generation at the coal-fired Barapukuria Thermal Power Plant in Parbatipur, Dinajpur has been completely suspended due to mechanical failures, as its two operational units of the 525MW plant have gone offline one after another.
The complete shutdown of the plant has caused widespread suffering for residents across Parbatipur upazila and eight northern districts.
According to plant authorities, the 125 MW first unit and the 275 MW third unit were temporarily shut down due to mechanical faults.
Meanwhile, overhauling work on the plant’s second unit has been suspended for five years and 11 months since November 2020.
Chief Engineer of the Barapukuria Thermal Power Plant, Md Abu Bakkar Siddique, said that the first unit suffered a mechanical glitch at 5:50am on Monday, followed by the third unit experiencing a fault at 5:05am on Tuesday, causing production in both units to stop.
He noted that it is difficult to specify when these two units will return to generation.
He added that a team of engineers from Chinese firm Harbin Company has commenced work to rectify the mechanical faults in the two shut-down units.
Prior to the shutdown, the 275 MW third unit supplied 160 to 170 MW of electricity daily to the national grid, requiring 2,500 tonnes of coal per day to remain operational. The 125 MW first unit supplied 50 to 55 MW daily to the national grid, consuming 800 to 900 tonnes of coal daily.
Regarding the second unit, plant authorities stated that although overhauling work has kept it offline since November 2020 (5 years and 11 months), there is a possibility that it could resume operation anytime in October.
