Residents of Sylhet have been experiencing frequent power cuts several times a day for almost three weeks, after the 225-megawatt power station at the Kumargaon 132/33 KV grid substation was forced to shut down due to a technical glitch.
Bidyut Acharya, assistant engineer of the Kumargaon power plant, said engineers working on reviving the station are hopeful it will resume operations within this week. According to officials at the grid, the power station was shut down nearly three weeks ago following a technical fault.
Repair work is currently underway, with a specialised team from Dhaka conducting testing and inspections of the station’s systems.
“The team from Dhaka is carrying out the testing. Once all tests are completed and systems are verified, we are hopeful the 225 MW station will be operational within the week,” said Acharya. Electricity from the Kumargaon plant is distributed to all four districts within Sylhet division—Moulvibazar, Sunamganj, Sylhet, and Habiganj. In its absence, Sylhet is currently relying solely on power from the national grid.
However, the National Load Dispatch Centre (NLDC) has been supplying Sylhet with less electricity than the region’s actual demand, leading to increased load shedding. People in these districts have been experiencing prolonged outages and disruptions.
The inconsistent power supply has also affected water distribution by the Sylhet City Corporation, resulting in daily water shortages in many neighbourhoods. Officials from the local power distribution office have said that load shedding may persist—or even worsen—until the Kumargaon station is fully operational.