Bangladesh power crunch shuts fertiliser plants

DHAKA, April 27 (Reuters) - Bangladesh has closed all three state-run fertiliser factories to divert gas to power plants to boost electricity generation, an energy official said on Monday.

Last week protesters attacked a number of power plants and police stations demanding adequate supply of electricity and water, also in short supply.

The country faces up to 2,000 megawatts shortage of electricity, halting or reducing production in many export industries, mostly in the clothing sector.

Bangladesh also faces daily shortages of up to 250 million cubic feet (mmcf) of gas, used to produce fertiliser. But the government diverted gas from manure production to power generation -- considered a bigger priority for industrial and household consumers.

"This (closure) is a temporary measure," Saiful Islam, a senior official of the state-run Bangladesh Power Development Board, told Reuters.

"As soon as we can augment the supply of gas, we will give it back to the factories and they will resume production," he added.

The diversion will help boost electricity production by 200 MW, Saiful said.

Bangladesh, its economy largely dependent on agriculture, annually requires around 2.8 million tonnes of urea. It produces 1.8 million tonnes and imports the rest.

"It is possible to procure fertiliser within a month's notice, but to produce or import electricity is a matter of long time, would require at least three years," Saiful said.

Officials said that Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) was producing 1.70 to 1.75 billion litres of water a day against the demand of 2.20 to 2.25 billion litres in the capital Dhaka, a city of more than 11 million people.

But they said they could not run water pumps or treatment plants in full capacity due to the electricity shortage.

(Reporting by Serajul Islam Quadir; Editing by Anis Ahmed)