Power Situation to Improve Slightly from This Evening: State Minister for Energy

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Aninda Islam Amit has stated that the country's electricity situation is expected to improve slightly starting Wednesday evening.

Speaking to reporters at the Secretariat on Wednesday (August 12) afternoon, the State Minister shared the update while expressing deep regret for the ongoing public suffering caused by the power and gas crisis.

Explaining the causes behind the shortage, the minister noted that new gas supplies could not be unloaded at one floating LNG terminal (FSRU) due to rough conditions in the Bay of Bengal. Meanwhile, another terminal has been unable to operate at full capacity following an accident. Operating that unit at full capacity would require shutting it down for nearly 72 hours, which poses a significant challenge.

"We are currently in discussions with Excelerate Energy, and their senior officials are holding a meeting today. We must decide on a schedule for the temporary shutdown that causes the least amount of public inconvenience. We are also consulting with business leaders," he added.

Acknowledging the hardship faced by citizens, the State Minister remarked, "There is no doubt that public distress is at its peak, and we repeatedly apologize to the people for this situation. However, we are helpless against natural disasters and must bow to nature. Once natural conditions normalize, gas unloading will resume, restoring the gas supply."

Assuring that the government is making maximum efforts to address the crisis, Aninda Islam Amit attributed the root cause of the current plight to flawed policies executed by previous administrations.

"We adopted a strategy yesterday evening. We hope that starting this evening, the electricity situation will see at least some improvement," he concluded.