Electricity plays a vital role in the economy of a developing country in many aspects. Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited is the largest power distribution company of Bangladesh. As a part of the power sector development and reform program of the Government of Bangladesh (GOB) Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited (DPDC) has been incorporated under the Company Act 1994 on 25th October, 2005 with authorised share capital of Tk. 10,000 (ten thousand) crore divided into 100( one hundred) crore ordinary share of Tk. 100 each.

The company is entitled to perform business since the date as mentioned in the certificate of commencement of business. The DPDC succeeded DESA on 1st July 2008 and henceforth started commercial operation on the date of taking all assets and liabilities of DESA through transfer agreement dated 11 september 2008 are vested upon a management team consisting of the Managing Director, the Director (Finance), the Director (Engineering) and the Director (Operation). The company is created to provide electricity to the consumers of Dhaka city corporation area (excluding DESCO area) including Narayangonj town, Siddirgonj, Fatullah and Mokterpur under Narayangonj district.

Distribution System:

DPDC maintains:

• Distribution Network upto 33KV level to ensure quality electricity to its consumer through 32 Network Operation and Customer Services (NOCS).
• The emergency and normal maintenance of distribution system below 33KV level, is being done by Network Operation and Customer Services (NOCS).
• All complains of power interruption of consumers are dealt by the control rooms under Network Operation and Customer Services (NOCS).
• 132/33 KV Grid sub-stations and lines, maintained by two Grid Maintenance Divisions under the supervision of DGM, Grid Circle.
• The quality power with the increase of demand, by making plans and implementing development projects through Development Divisions.

SCADA :

System Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) project was started functioning from July 1998 to control Distribution System operation from one point through Microwave link.

All 132/33 KV & 33/11 KV substations located within the Greater Dhaka District area are linked with SCADA central control room located at Katabon, Dhaka. Within capital city area, 11 KV line from 33/11 KV substation are also incorporated with the SCADA system. SCADA central control room manages the load and distribute to different area within Greater Dhaka District by contracting Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB)'s load dispatch centre and with the regional control rooms.

The overall functional activities of SCADA are:

• To manage load demand shortage of power genration by load shedding.
• To manage load demand during distribution system break down or overloading.
• To keep informed top-level management about power supply status during any emergency situation.
• To observe and analyze power flow status and take immediate action to avoid system unbalances.
• To provide daily and monthly power supply status reports to the top management and other related agencies.
To attend above mentioned activities, experienced engineers and operators are engaged round the clock in the SCADA central control room.

Commercial Activities :

• Main commercial activities such as New connection, Meter reading collection, Billing, Revenue collection through banks are being done by 32 Network Operation & Customer Service (NOCS) divisions, that are being supervised by 16 Deputy General Managers and 2 General Managers.
• Consumer Billing & Accounting are performed and maintained by the divisions through the MIS & Computer Department.

Digitalization :

ICT circle of DPDC is an important office to bring all the offices under information technology by using digital technology. Now 32 NOCS division are operating and more than 7.5 lac customers are being served through these NOCS divisions. Under the supervision of ICT circle, each and every customers of DPDC gets their computerized bill every month. Moreover, problems related to bills and arrear are solved by the ICT circle. Beside that, arrear related certificates, customer's ledger and MIS information for the higher authority for the purpose of decision making are provided by the ICT circle. DPDC is trying to keep one step ahead than other similar organization in using digital technologies.

The following are the achievements:

• Online Billing.
• Locally bill preperation
• Complaint tracking system .
• Payment automation.
• Interactive website
• Other Software Development
• Management Information System

Feature Activities of ICT Circle:

To provide better customer services and to make company profitable and efficient, usage of information technology has no substitute. To adopt moden technology, ICT circle has taken the following plans:

• Upgradation of Oracle database server of ICT circle.
• Purchasing the disaster recovery server for making the system uninterruptible and efficient
• The complaint tracking system like Dhanmondi NOCS will expanding to other 31 NOCS division.
• Development and implementation of computerized accounting management system .
• To maintain tracking of file in DPDC is going to implement E-File movement software.
• For avoiding hassle in tendering system, DPDC will implement e-tendering system.
• ICT circle is working with power division of ministry and developing a web based software so that both ministry and DPDC authority can monitor project development works.

History of Electricity Genaration & Distribution in Bangladesh