Bangladesh significantly reduced its electricity imports from Adani Power’s plant in India during November, with figures dropping by almost one-third, according to Indian government data. This decline has led Bangladesh to rely more heavily on fuel oil for generating electricity.
The abrupt cutback in electricity supply by Adani Power’s 1,600 MW plant in Jharkhand last month followed a dispute over payment issues. This plant had entered into a 25-year agreement in 2017 to provide electricity to Bangladesh under the administration of the now-ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Struggling with a foreign currency shortage, Bangladesh has been urging Adani Power to lower its electricity pricing, which is reportedly the highest among its energy sources. Adani’s Godda power plant, which is contractually obligated to send its entire output to Bangladesh, supplied about 9% of the country’s power in the year leading up to Hasina’s removal in August.
Data from a federal power ministry-affiliated regional committee revealed that the Godda plant exported 450 million kilowatt hours of electricity to Bangladesh in November, marking a 32.8% year-on-year reduction.
This was the most significant monthly drop in electricity imports from the Adani plant. The November supply levels were the lowest since December 2023, as reported by India’s Eastern Regional Power Committee.
Although electricity consumption usually declines during the winter season due to reduced demand, Bangladesh has been forced to rely on fuel oil-based power plants to address a 5.6% annual increase in electricity needs and compensate for the reduced imports from Adani Power.
The use of fuel oil for power production in Bangladesh jumped by 47.8% in November, marking the third consecutive monthly rise after experiencing a 21-month-long decline. Data from Bangladesh’s power grid operator also indicated a more than 10% increase in natural gas-based electricity generation in November after five months of continuous decline. Meanwhile, coal-fired power generation dropped for the third consecutive month.
