Bangladesh is facing a severe power shortage, with prolonged blackouts affecting households, hospitals, businesses and factories. At Barishal General Hospital, nurses reportedly used mobile phone torches to treat patients after repeated outages exhausted diesel supplies for backup generators.
The electricity shortfall has been estimated at 3,000–3,500 MW, significantly above the 750 MW deficit recorded during the 2022 crisis. Although Bangladesh has around 30,000 MW of installed generation capacity, average output was about 13,000 MW in August against demand exceeding 16,000 MW.
The crisis is closely linked to Bangladesh’s dependence on natural gas. Domestic gas production fell from 27.2 billion cubic metres in FY2018-19 to 19.6 billion cubic metres in FY2024-25, while imports increased substantially. Problems at coal-fired plants have further reduced available generation.
The shortages are hitting the garment and textile industries, with factories reporting production cuts, cancelled orders and shipment delays. Businesses have also turned to costlier diesel and LPG for backup power.
India already supplies Bangladesh with more than 2,600 MW of electricity, but expanding assistance quickly is difficult. The two countries’ existing energy agreements were largely established before relations deteriorated after 2024. India also faces its own energy requirements and additional electricity supplies would require available generation and transmission capacity.
Bangladesh’s immediate situation may improve as gas supplies recover, but reducing future vulnerability will require greater fuel diversification, stronger infrastructure and more reliable domestic energy production.
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