Kaptai Plant Breaks Generation Records As Monsoon Floods Reservoirs

Kaptai Hydropower Plant is churning out electricity like there’s no tomorrow. After months of lackluster performance, the facility is now pumping out a whopping 215 MW as of July 2025, thanks to the monsoon’s generous downpours. All five generation units are finally running at full tilt—something that hasn’t happened once this year until now. Who knew rain could be so productive?

Mother Nature’s power surge: Kaptai plant hitting 215 MW after months of electrical drought.

The water level at Kaptai Lake has surged to 96.41 feet MSL, well above the rule curve of 85.28 feet. Translation: there’s a lot more water than usual, and engineers are loving it. Days of non-stop rain in Rangamati have pushed the plant dangerously close to its maximum capacity of 230 MW. Executive Engineer Mahmud Hasan has confirmed the operational status to BSS while emphasizing the importance of water level management. Not bad for Bangladesh’s only major hydropower facility.

Breaking it down: Units 1 and 2 are each cranking out 46 MW, while Units 3, 4, and 5 contribute 40 MW apiece. Do the math—that’s 215 MW total, stable for days now. Compare that to the pathetic 25 MW the plant was struggling to produce back in March and April. Talk about a comeback story.

The plant’s been around since the 1960s, with construction starting even earlier in 1957. It’s old, sure, but still kicking. Those aging turbines have somehow managed to produce 39,606 million units since they first fired up. The remarkable performance comes despite the aging infrastructure that requires major overhauls, with Units 3, 4, and 5 operating well beyond their intended lifespan. The recent output is particularly impressive considering the ongoing siltation issues that have gradually reduced the reservoir’s storage capacity.

This surge couldn’t come at a better time for Bangladesh’s power grid, which hit a record generation of 16,477 MW in April 2024. Kaptai’s contribution is just a drop in the national bucket of 25,951 MW total capacity, but every megawatt counts when you’re dealing with frequent shortfalls.

Will the good times last? Probably not. Once the monsoon passes, we’ll be back to the usual complaints about low water levels and aging equipment. But for now, let’s enjoy the electricity while it flows.