Barapukuria Thermal Power Plant Unit 1 resumes power generation

Unit 1 of the Barapukuria Coal-Fired Thermal Power Plant in Dinajpur resumed electricity generation on Saturday, a day after it was shut down due to a mechanical fault.
The unit was restarted at 2:23pm and has been supplying 55 megawatts (MW) of electricity to the national grid since then, said Abu Bakar Siddique, chief engineer of the Barapukuria Thermal Power Plant.
Following successful testing, the 125MW-capacity unit resumed full-scale generation, with electricity being supplied to the national grid from around 2:30pm, he said.
Unit 1 had been supplying around 50MW to the national grid before it suddenly developed a mechanical fault on Friday morning, forcing authorities to suspend generation.
Meanwhile, Unit 3 of the power plant remains operational. The 275MW-capacity unit is currently generating around 170MW and supplying it to the national grid.
Unit 2, however, has remained out of operation since 2020. Power plant authorities said initiatives have been taken to bring the unit back into service.
They expressed hope that restarting Unit 2 would help ease the country’s electricity shortage considerably.
With the resumption of Unit 1, electricity supplied to the national grid from the Barapukuria Thermal Power Plant has increased. Officials and engineers said the plant’s overall power generation is expected to improve further in the coming days.