Power outages are common in Bangladesh. Major power outages are occurring across the country due to the shutdown of the national grid. The extent of the fiasco has broken all records from the past. Regional outages, on the other hand, also occur frequently. A disaster of this magnitude cannot be considered outdated circulation management. The electricity we use is usually produced using fossil fuels, solar energy, water, and wind power. A grid is a network through which various sources of electricity are connected. The task of this grid is to manage the incoming electricity generated from different sources at different places, deliver it to people's homes, industries, commercial establishments, etc., and ensure apportionment, distribution, and control according to demand. And the national grid means the mutual integration of each grid. NLDC (National Load Dispatch Center) is a part of the National Grid. Its job is to control the electricity supply system for the entire country.
Each grid is connected to another within different divisions or states. As a result, if there is excess production capacity, it is possible to supply power to blackout areas from grids in other states or divisions in the event of a grid failure. Even though there is production capacity in Bangladesh, energy is being saved through load shedding due to the energy crisis. If the national grid fails again, the situation becomes dire. Then the whole country was plunged into darkness.
NLDC handles the demand, generation, transmission, monitoring, and regulation of electricity in the country. NLDC also determines how many hours each power plant will be operational and when and how many megawatts it will produce. In modern transmission systems, NLDC does this automatically. Instructions for opening and closing any power plant, how many megawatts will be produced at the plant, and hourly instructions are given over the phone here. Thus, if the demand increases or decreases, it cannot be controlled immediately. The grid is a very sensitive part of a power system. There are many reasons why grid outages can cause power outages. If electricity is transmitted beyond the capacity of the transmission line (grid), grid failure can also occur. Faulty junctions in transmission lines can cause sparks and even grid shutdowns. The grid shuts down even if the frequency changes during the transmission of electricity. There are many other reasons why the grid can shut down.
The more severe any of these causes, the more widespread the disaster. The national grid consists of a main part (the backbone). Multiple regional grids are connected to it. Those divisions are again tied into a thread. These include technical arrangements such that the failure or outage of any regional part of the national grid does not cause the entire grid to shut down. But if there is any reason to close the backbone, its effects are omnipresent. Even if there is a problem with the grid, there is technology to control it. For example, power plants can be connected to the grid in such a way that when the grid shuts down, the power plant will automatically disconnect from the grid. As a result, even if the grid is shut down, the center will not shut down. Once the grid is repaired, the center can be re-connected to the grid. When a problem is brought to a technical solution, it is seen that the issue of solving the problem is secondary; the main thing is to create opportunities for dishonest business on occasion.
The solution to any problem is not a bottom-up approach, but a top-down approach. As a result, it remains questionable from the point of view of transparency, rationality, and fairness. The power department and the persons under whose administrative authority these matters are looked after are mostly technically ignorant, incompetent, and inappropriate.
If anyone is to blame for the aforementioned grid disaster, then the board concerned has to be blamed. Therefore, the chief accused will be the chairman of these boards, the secretary and additional secretaries of the power department, and the chief secretary of the government. Administrative mismanagement is one of the reasons for the national grid disaster. Failure to protect the grid from risk is the responsibility of the board chairmen. They have also made the ministry ineffective in terms of protecting the grid or power system. They are the regulator at one point and the company administrator at the other. This is a conflict of interest. The government is unable to hold these bureaucrats accountable.
Bangladesh has spent more than 50 years. However, authority and the leadership of professionals are not established anywhere in the organization. Once their authority was established, their responsibility or accountability to the people was assured. At one point, accountability would have been ensured; on the other side, their professional knowledge and skills would have helped in preventing accidents. We don't know if Bangladesh will ever have such luck.
The writer is a power and energy expert and energy adviser, CAB
