Photo : Collected
Country’s five mega power generation projects including import from Adani have cut 41.30 percent of generation due to fuel shortage caused by huge outstanding bills.
According to Power Development Board (PDB) four power projects and Adani supply 5,464MW of electricity to the national grid, of them, currently, only 3,207MW of electricity is being supplying to the grid.
Indian Adani has cut 869MW while it is supposed to supply 1600MW due to outstanding bill, local SS power is supplying 612MW though it has 1,224MW capacity, Matarbari with 1,200MW capacity has stopped generation and Rampal is generating 620MW and it has 1200MW capacity but Payra-1244MW is running with full sewing.
Power generation has been suspended for three days at the two units of the Matarbari 1,200MW coal-fired plant in Moheshkhali upazila of Cox's Bazar due to a coal shortage.
The plant went offline on Thursday (31 October), confirmed Muhammad Monowar Hossain Mojumder, the superintendent engineer (operation) at Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Limited (CPGCBL), to The Daily Messenger yesterday (2 November).
He said they bring coal through Japan's Sumitomo Corporation for power generation through the plant's units. The contract for 2,205,000 tonnes of coal with the Japanese company ended back in August after it delivered the last consignment as per the contract.
That stock of coal has been completely exhausted and as a result, power generation stopped on Thursday, said Monowar.
One of the plant's two 600MW units began production in July 2023 and the other in December same year. One unit requires around 6,500 to 7,000 tonnes of coal daily.
PGCBL was supposed to buy coal through tender before Sumitomo finished supplying coal in August.
Monowar said Abul Kalam Azad, the now former project director, delayed the process to invite international tenders for a three-year coal supply deal by 10 months to provide illegal benefits to a particular company.
Later, in response to a petition from another contracting company alleging these irregularities, the High Court in July imposed a six-month ban on coal imports. Although the Supreme Court later stayed this ban order, long-term coal import has been facing uncertainty since then.
However, efforts are underway to import coal by the end of November after completing all the necessary procedures. Once the coal arrives, power generation will resume, said Monowar.
The total project cost is Tk 51,854.88 crore, of which, Tk 6,406.16 crore came from the Bangladesh government, Tk 43,921.03 crore from Japan International Cooperation Agency, and Tk 1,527.69 crore from PGCBL.
However, due to the dollar crisis, Bangladesh is not able to pay Adani's bills regularly. Adani sent a letter last month to pay the bill. As a result, Adani's deal is renegotiated. However, despite various conditions Bangladesh is unable to leave this agreement.
Aiming to meet the huge electricity crisis, the government has taken the mega projects ‘Bangladesh-India Partnership Power Company Limited (BIFPCL) generally known as Rampal Power Plant ‘spending huge amount of money which is now facing the triangle problem in technical fault, coal crisis and operational inefficiency.
Rampal Thermal Power plant with 1320 MW capacity, the government priorities coal-based power plant halts its production for the 8th time in two years since its journey December 2022.
S Alam, the most talked group of company for manipulation the banking sector, which don’t have any experience in power generation has been awarded a mega project with the capacity of 1,320 MW located in Bashkhali, Chattogram that charges highest price for power currently cut generation due to coal shortage.
Unfortunately, at least three people were killed and dozens injured while staging protest against the power plant project at Banshkhali in April 2016.
According to Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) SS power a coal-based plant in Bashkhali, Chattogram spent (energy) Tk 7.12 for per unit of electricity while Rampal spent Tk 6.30, Payra Tk 6.48 and Adani an Indian coal-based plant export power to Bangladesh spent Tk 6.73. And more cost will be added as capacity charge with the production cost.
Messenger/Disha
