Bangladesh’s ongoing gas crisis is complicating preparations to connect the Rooppur nuclear power plant to the national grid. The government plans to supply 300 megawatts from the plant’s first unit on trial next month, with final-stage tests now underway. But a key requirement remains unresolved: the spinning reserve needed to keep the national grid stable if the nuclear unit suddenly trips.
The problem is largely a result of the prolonged fuel shortage at gas-fired power plants.
A spinning reserve is generating capacity kept ready to come online at short notice. If the Rooppur plant suddenly shuts down, the reserve capacity will immediately make up the shortfall and reduce the risk of a major outage or grid collapse.
Russia’s Scientific and Technical Center of Unified Power Systems (STC-UPS), which advised on the Rooppur nuclear power plant’s commissioning, recommended gas-fired power plants for the spinning reserve. Such capacity is critical to grid security and stability when operating large generating units such as a nuclear power plant.
Officials at the Power Division and Power Grid Bangladesh PLC (PGCB) said the system does not have enough spinning reserve to absorb the first unit’s full 1,200 MW output. There is enough, however, for the initial 300 MW trial.
Bangladesh has nearly 12,500 MW of gas-fired generation capacity, but a gas shortage leaves about half of it idle year after year. That leaves little scope to prepare additional capacity for Rooppur.
Senior Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and PGCB officials confirmed that the reserve for the initial 300 MW is adequate but a larger reserve would be needed when the first unit reaches full output.
Experts from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and power-sector officials said 1,200 MW of additional generating capacity must be kept ready when the first unit of the Rooppur nuclear power plant comes online. Gas-fired plants would therefore need to generate about 8,000 MW, compared with roughly 5,500 MW now. Keeping another 2,500 MW of gas-fired capacity in reserve would require a substantial increase in gas supply.
“We want Rooppur’s electricity on the grid quickly. The transmission line is now ready, which was previously seen as a big issue,” BPDB Chairman Md Rezaul Karim told Bonik Barta.
Asked whether the spinning reserve had been secured, he said: “The spinning reserve needed for Rooppur’s 300 MW generation won’t be a problem.”
STC-UPS set out Rooppur’s reserve requirements in a letter to the Power Division in January 2025. It said synchronising the first and second units with the national grid would require 1,907 MW of additional generating capacity. Of that, it recommended 1,200 MW for primary frequency control and 707 MW for secondary frequency control.
In its letter, STC said gas turbine plants provide the fastest response for primary frequency control, known as FGMO. That would require securing at least 8,000 MW of capacity from gas-fired plants.
PGCB officials said they had discussed the issue with BPDB several times since then. They called for guaranteed gas supplies to plants at Ghorashal, Ashuganj, Haripur and Meghnaghat as their grid connections are particularly strong. But gas has yet to be secured for those spinning reserve plants.
The Rooppur plant is the largest and most technologically complex power plant in Bangladesh’s history. Once it starts operating, Bangladesh will become the 33rd country to generate nuclear power.
Energy experts say a plant of this scale cannot be commissioned without the necessary safeguards and preparations.
Calling guaranteed primary fuel supply a key requirement for a spinning reserve, energy specialist and BUET Professor Abdul Hasib Chowdhury told Bonik Barta that the reserve would be critical to the power system when Rooppur comes online. “Secure operation is impossible without it. Given the current gas supply constraints, relying on gas-fired plants for Rooppur’s spinning reserve will be a major challenge. Bringing such a large power plant into operation requires greater certainty over fuel management.”
The Rooppur nuclear power plant is also Bangladesh’s largest single project. The Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, under the Ministry of Science and Technology, is implementing it, while Nuclear Power Plant Company Bangladesh Ltd (NPCBL) manages the plant under the commission. Russian contractor Atomstroyexport is building the two 1,200 MW units at Pabna’s Rooppur. The project costs BDT 1.38 trillion, with Russia providing most of the financing through loans.