Bangladesh struggles with partial grid failure

A government official said that authorities were working to restore power supply in the country of 168 million people after a partial grid failure. Large swathes of Bangladesh were left without electricity on Tuesday.

The country's power grid malfunctioned around 2 p.m. 4 a.m. On Tuesday, a blackout occurred across 75 - 80% of Bangladesh, according to Shameem Hasan, Bangladesh Power Development Board official.

Hasan said utilities were currently producing around 4,500 megawatts MW of power, compared to the nationwide demand of 14,200 MW.

Hasan said an investigation is underway to determine the cause of the grid's collapse.

According to government data, Bangladeshi peak power demand was 3% higher than the 13,800 MW forecast earlier this week by the Bangladesh Power Development Board.

The Junior Power Minister Nasrul Hamid said that power supply in Dhaka will be restored within three hours, referring to Bangladesh's capital city, which is home to some 20 million people.

Despite the high global natural gas prices, many parts of Bangladesh have had frequent power cuts this year despite efforts to ration gas supplies.

Natural gas accounts for nearly three-quarters of the country's power generation.

Over a third of the 77 gas-powered units in Bangladesh were facing a gas shortage, according to government data released on Tuesday.

In the past few years, the growth of power in Bangladesh has been driven by the residential segment, compared to industries.