B'desh plant suspends production in power shortage

CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh, Oct 1 (Reuters) Bangladesh has suspended production at a fertiliser factory to save gas for power generation in the wake of violent protests over shortages of electricity in the country, officials said on Sunday.

The production at the factory of state-owned Chittagong Urea Fertilizer Limited stopped after authorities had diverted natural gas meant for it to the 420-megawatt Roazan Power plant.

The authorities said they needed to boost power supply immediately.

The factory needed 50 mmcf (million cubic feet) of gas per day to produce 600,000 million tonnes of urea per annum.

''We have diverted the gas to Raozan Power Plant to help it run in full capacity. It was essential as we do not have adequate supply of gas to meet the requirements,'' said an energy ministry official.

The country's total gas supply capacity is now 1,570 mmcf per day with a shortfall of 80 mmcf a day, another official said without giving details.

''Electricity is more important than fertiliser, when people are on a rampage, angered by frequent outages,'' he said.

Nearly 300 people were injured in clashes with police in the capital Dhaka, the southeastern port city of Chittagong and other major towns across Bangladesh last week.

The government sacked junior power minister, Anwarul Kabir Talukdar, on Friday, but the protests continued.

Power department officials said the country suffered a 2,000 megawatt electricity shortfall daily and that the situation was unlikely to improve soon.

At least 20 power generation plants out of 61 are shut due to technical faults or for maintenance, and plans to build new power stations are stalled because of lack of funds.

More than 20 people, most of them farmers, were killed in clashes with police in northern Bangladesh early this year during demonstrations over power shortages for irrigation.

However officials fear the suspension of urea production might trigger fresh violence as the country was also running short of fertiliser.

Officials said Bangladesh imports one thirds of its three million tonne annual fertiliser requirements.

Bangladesh, which produces gas from 13 out of 23 discovered fields including one offshore, has 14 trillion cubic feet of proven and recoverable gas reserves based on current estimates.

REUTERS DKS GC1654