United News of Bangladesh

Electricity generation has resumed at Unit 1 of Barapukuria Thermal Power Plant after a six-day shutdown. The unit is currently supplying around 55 to 60 megawatts of electricity to the national grid, raising hopes of easing load shedding in the northern region. Chief Engineer Abu Bakkar Siddique said production at the power plant resumed at 10 pm on Friday. The plant, which has a total capacity of 525 megawatts across three units, brought its 125-megawatt Unit 1 back online after necessary repairs, he added. The unit had been shut down on April 25 due to a ruptured boiler pipe. Meanwhile, maintenance work is ongoing at the 275-megawatt Unit 3, which is expected to resume operations by mid-May. Once operational, it will further boost electricity supply to the national grid.  The authorities have also decided to repair and restart Unit 2, another 125-megawatt unit that has remained out of service for the past five years. Barapukuria Thermal Power Plant was established in 2006 to ensure the use of coal from the nearby Barapukuria coal mine and to support irrigation needs in eight agriculture-dependent northern districts. Initially, the plant began operations with two 125-megawatt units, and a third unit with a capacity of 275 megawatts was added in 2017.

Power generation at Unit-1 of the Barapukuria Thermal Power Plant in Dinajpur was suspended on Sunday (January 18, 2026) after a boiler tube burst, bringing electricity production at the plant to a complete halt. As a result, all three units of the plant, with a combined capacity of 525 megawatts (MW), are now out of operation. Read more: Child killed, 15 injured as bus overturns in Dinajpur Abu Bakar Siddique, chief engineer of the power plant, said that of the three units, Unit-1, with a capacity of 125 MW, had been generating around 60 MW of electricity at the time of the incident. “The boiler tube of Unit-1 burst around 11am due to excessive heat pressure. The water flowing inside the boiler has a temperature of around 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit,” he said. He added that it may take about a week for the boiler to cool down, after which the extent of the damage can be assessed. “If repairs are completed successfully, power generation can be resumed,” he said. Meanwhile, Unit-3, which has a capacity of 275 MW, has been shut down for overhauling work being carried out by Chinese engineers, while Unit-2 (125 MW) has remained out of operation for a long time due to technical faults. As a result, the coal-fired power plant is currently completely shut down. Read more: Big push for renewables: 220 MW Sonagazi solar plant gets green light Officials warned that the shutdown may lead to load-shedding in northern districts, potentially disrupting production at electricity-dependent industries and causing hardship across the region.