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A fire and mechanical faults have brought electricity generation to a complete halt at the Barapukuria coal-fired thermal power plant in Dinajpur.
The fire broke out at around 5:10am on Tuesday when a short circuit occurred in an electrical line at the instrumentation and control section of Unit 1.
The incident caused the 275MW Unit 3, which had been operating, to trip and shut down.
Unit 1 had already been affected by a mechanical fault, while Unit 2 has remained out of operation since 2020. As a result, all three units of the plant are currently offline.
Before the shutdown, Unit 1 was supplying around 50–65MW to the national grid, while Unit 3 was generating around 160–175MW. The plant therefore contributed more than 200MW to the grid when both units were operational.
Chief Engineer Md Abu Bakkar Siddiq said engineers from the Chinese contractor Harbin International had started repair work and were working to restore generation as soon as possible.
However, no specific timeframe has been given for the resumption of operations.
The complete shutdown has raised concerns over power shortages and increased load-shedding, particularly in northern districts.
