In next six months several private producers will be ready to supply 5,350 MW of electricity to the national grid under agreements with the government. You are wrong if you think it’s going to ease the ongoing power crisis in the country.  Worse still, the state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board will have little use of this new electricity even though it is likely to pay in crores of taka in capacity charges to the producers further bulging the government’s spending on available but unused power. Capacity payment is considered a penalty for the BPDB as the government fails to purchase the power available with the power plants for supply to the national grid under agreements. The government has recently been under fire from energy experts for continuing with the capacity payment for idle electricity amid rising economic problems. As per the government’s power purchase agreement (PPA) with the private producers, the entire payments will be made in foreign currency mounting a new pressure on declining foreign exchange reserves, official sources said speaking on condition of anonymity due to the subject’s sensitivity. Also read: Battery-run rickshaws continue to operate amid massive power cuts According to the sources, despite an improvement in payment the government still owes $1.5 billion to the private power plant operators for purchase of electricity. This arrear bills may increase as a fall-out of the new arrivals. The sources said, of the 5,346 MW electricity, scheduled to be added to the national grid from November 2022-to February 2022, some 1,600 MW will come from Adani Group’s coal-fired power plant in the Indian state of Jharkhand, 620 MW from Rampal Power Plant, 1224 MW from S Alam Group’s power plant in Bashkhali of Chattagram, 718 MW electricity from Reliance Power LNG-based Plant in Meghnaghat and another 600 MW from LNG-based GE-Summit power plant in Meghnaghat, and 584 MW from LNG-based Unique Group’s power plant in Meghnaghat.