The coal-fired Rampal Power Plant in Bagerhat has finally started electricity generation on experimental basis through adding 660MW of electricity to the national grid produced from its first unit. Rampal power plant, formally known as Maitree Super Thermal Power Project, started its experimental power generation from Saturday night, Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) Director Shamim Hasan said. Read more: Hasina, Modi jointly unveil Rampal Power Plant’s unit 1 He said it may take a week to a month to start commercial operation of unit-1. Anwarul Azim, deputy manager of Rampal thermal power plant, said 660MW of electricity is being produced from unit-1. Of this, 400MW is being added to the National Grid in Dhaka via Aminbazar-Gopalganj transmission line and 260MW is being supplied to Khulna-Bagerhat. Further 660MW electricity from the coal-fired power plant’s unit-2 will be added to the national grid in June 2023, he added. “Already 79.35 percent of the work of unit-2 has been completed,” he informed. Read more: First coal shipment for Rampal power plant arrives from Indonesia The 1320 (2x660) MW coal-fired power plant has been set up at a cost of approximately USD 2 billion and is located in Rampal, in the Bagerhat district under Khulna division of Bangladesh. The Maitree Super Thermal Power Project is being constructed under the Indian government’s concessional financing scheme. It was built by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) for the Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company Private Ltd. The latter is a 50:50 joint venture company between India's National Thermal Power Company (NTPC) Ltd and Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), said the officials. Read more: Power flow set up from Payra plant to Rampal sub-station Rampal power plant is being set up with super critical technology to actively mitigate environmental impact. The coal imported as raw material for power generation at this station is being transported through the Pasur river in the Sundarbans. Unit-1 of the power plant was successfully synchronized with the national grid on August 15 this year. On September 6, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi jointly unveiled unit-1 of the power plant. Once both units are commissioned, Rampal power plant will be one of the largest in Bangladesh, Subhash Chandra Pandey, project director of Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company (Pvt.) Limited, told UNB.

Since the national power grid failure on October 4, 2022, Ghorashal Power Station could not resume operation in full capacity, a top official of Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), has said. “Ghorashal Power Station may take one more week to resume electricity generation in full capacity,” he said, wishing not to be named. Read: As workweek starts, power supply situation in Dhaka worsens Bangladesh Power Development Board data shows the country’s power generation varies between 11,000 MW and 12,000 MW, following the national grid failure on October 4 – against a demand for about 14,000 MW. “As a result, we have to resort to about 2,000 MW of load shedding to manage the situation,” the BPDB official said. Read: National grid failure: Power Division forms 7-member probe body He also noted that power supply from Ghorashal station plays a major role in meeting demands in Dhaka city. “Until Ghorashal resumes operation in full swing, power supply situation in Dhaka is unlikely to improve,” he observed.

Despite an improvement in payment the government still owes $1.5 billion to the private power plant operators for purchase of electricity, according to official sources. The sources confirmed this week that the state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), the single buyer on behalf of the government, partially cleared the payment until February last. “We have not received any payment against the electricity purchase bills of March till the current month”, said Imran Karim, president of the Bangladesh Independent Power Producers Association (Bippa), the representative body of the private power producers in the country. “Some of us received the highest 60 per cent of the payments against the bills of February while many have not”, he told UNB. He hoped that there would be a major breakthrough in the bill settlements soon as their persuasion continued at the highest policy making level. Normally, the BPDB purchases electricity worth Tk 4,000 crore per month. Now, the payments against the bills of four months— March, April, May and June— are pending to be cleared. In addition, some partial bills of February have also not been cleared. By this calculation, the total amount of the pending bills will be over $1.5 billion, said Imran, also the director of the Confidence Group, which owns a number of private plants. BPDB has been in a cash crunch for the last several months which forced the organization to move a proposal to the energy regulator to raise the electricity price at retail level. The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) is yet to make any decision though it recently held a public hearing on the issue. The BPDB, however, disagreed with the calculation saying that it normally gets 45 days to clear a bill after submission. “If the due payment is calculated this way the amount will be equivalent for 2 and a half months”, said Saiful Hasan Chowdhury, director, public relation of the BPDB. Read: PM seeks people’s support to cut power subsidy amid hard times He said BPDB has cleared most of the payments against the bills of February. The BPDB official data shows the country’s total generation capacity is 25,235 MW of which grid-connected generation is 22,348 MW up to April this year while the remaining 2887 is captive generation, mainly produced by industry owners, exclusively for running their own industries. The country’s highest generation was recorded 14,782 MW on April 16 meaning that the surplus capacity is 10,453 MW (about 41 per cent). Of the 22,348 MW, some 50.3 per cent (11,240 MW) is being generated by public sector entities while the remaining 49.7 per cent (11,108) MW is coming from the private sector. The BPDB documents reveal the government has to spend a total of Tk 71,878 crore in the FY2021-22 for total power production, of which Tk 44,434 crore will be spent for purchasing electricity from the private sector. Of this amount, Tk 37,963 crore will be required to purchase electricity from the independent power producer (IPP) and small IPP plants in the private sector which produce 38 per cent (8,807 MW) of the total generation. Bippa officials said the delay in payment is not the only problem that the private power producers are facing. “The shooting trend in dollar price, unavailability of the green backs with banks and counting penalties for delayed payment to foreign lenders and equipment suppliers have been the major problems”, said Bippa president. He noted that some of the letters of credits (LCs) were opened with the banks a few months back, calculating the US dollar at a lower rate like Tk 86. “But after a huge spiral in dollar rates, we have to now calculate the dollar rate at over Tk 95” in settlements of the LCs, he said, adding that some banks do not even sell dollars at the government’s fixed rates. He also mentioned that many foreign banks charge IPP operators for delay in their repayments while equipment suppliers are also doing the same practice.

Load shedding continued across the country on Tuesday as consumers in many areas in the capital Dhaka and elsewhere  experienced power cuts for several hours in a number of spells. According to Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), the country had to experience about 1400 MW of load shedding as it generated less than 13,000 MW against a demand of over 14,000 MW. As a result, consumers in and outside the capital had to experience frequent interruption and load shedding, said an official of the BPDB. He attributed the fall in power generation to the shortage of gas supply to the power plants saying that the BPDB had to hold up generation of about 3400 MW of electricity despite having the capacity. Read: PM mulls area-based specific time power cuts to save fuel Dhaka city alone had to experience over 500 MW of load shedding.   Managing director of Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited (DPDC) Bikash Dewan informed that his areas had to go for 400 MW of load shedding to cover the gap between demand and supply. “DPDC received 1200 MW of electricity against the demand for 1600 MW”, he told UNB. He said that he is trying to design a plan for load shedding so that people could be aware of the interruption to mentally accept the power cut. “If we could implement the plan, it will give lesser sufferings to the people”, he said.    Watch video: The areas under DPDC in the city include Mohammadpur, Dhanmondi, Lalbagh, Sutrapur, Jatrabari, Malibagh, Mogbazar, Tejgaon, Kakrain, Santinagar, Agargaon, Kalabagan, Kawranbazar and Tejturibazar area.   The areas under the Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited (Desco) also had to experience black outs on several spells. Desco had to resort to load shedding of 134 MW in its areas, said its managing director Kawsar Ameer Ali. He informed that the Desco was allocated 800 MW plus electricity against a demand of over 1000 MW.     Read: Countrywide load-shedding increases due to gas shortage in power plants The Desco mainly distributes electricity to the city’s west, north-west, and eastern parts which include Uttara, Mirpur, Badda, Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara, Niketon, and Badda.    However, electricity consumers outside the capital alleged that they had to experience blackouts for several hours. “Even, consumers in many areas had to keep without electricity for 5-6 hours a day in different spells”, said an official of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) which received reports from different areas across the country. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources held a high level meeting with officials of BPDB and Petrobangla to find a way to improve the power and gas supply situation. An official who attended the meeting said that the Petrobangla was asked from the meeting to increase gas production so that more gas-fired power plants could resume operation.

Though Bangladesh has over a 40 per cent surplus above its generation capacity of more than 25,000 MW of power, the state-run power agency has continued to purchase six per cent of electricity from the pricier rental and quick rental plants. This has been revealed in documents state-run Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) has placed to the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) during the recent public hearing on its proposal to hugely hike the power rates despite protests from businesspeople which call the move as suicidal to the economy. Also read: Any rise in power, gas tariff to be suicidal: FBCCI According to the documents the government has to buy about 1,200 MW of electricity from rental and quick rental power plants spending Tk 4,564 crore in the current fiscal year, while BPDB’s revenue deficit is Tk 30,252 crore. To offset the revenue deficit, the BPDB moved a proposal to the energy watchdog body to raise electricity tariff to Tk 8.58 per unit at bulk level from the existing Tk 5.17. The BPDB official data shows the country’s total generation capacity is 25,235 MW of which grid-connected generation is 22,348 MW upto April this year while the remaining 2887 is captive generation, mainly produced by industry owners, exclusively for running their own industries. The country’s highest generation was recorded 14,782 MW on April 16 meaning that the surplus capacity is 10,453 MW (about 41 per cent). Of the 22,348 MW, some 50.3 per cent (11,240 MW) is being generated by public sector entities while the remaining 49.7 per cent (11,108) MW is coming from the private sector. The BPDB documents reveal the government has to spend a total of Tk 71,878 crore in the FY2021-22 for total power production, of which Tk 44,434 crore will be spent for purchasing electricity from the private sector. Of this amount, Tk 37,963 crore will be required to purchase electricity from the independent power producer (IPP) and small IPP plants in the private sector which produce 38 per cent (8,807 MW) of the total generation. The documents show the government has to spend Tk 1907.8 crore for buying power from rental and quick rental power plants which are 6 per cent (6,013 MW) of the total generation. The data also shows the government will need to spend Tk 4,564 crore to import about 10 per cent of electricity (1160 MW) from India. As per the BPDB documents, currently there are three types of rental power plants—15 years rental (169 MW), 3/5 years rental (255 MW) and No Electricity, No Payment rental power plants. It is mentionable that despite surplus electricity generation over demand, the government in the last four to five months extended the contracts of a total of 10 rental power plants. Of these, some five rental power plants got extension on March 23 in the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase while four rental power plants got the approval on January 5 this year and one got approval on December 29 last year. Although the deals were extended on a “No Electricity, No Payment” basis, an allocation of Tk 6,564.08 crore was approved by the CCPP to pay the owners of the rental power plants for their operations. State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid, however, defended the extension of the rental power plants’ contracts saying that the deals were made for “emergency necessity” to tackle the current situation. Also read: BERC’s TEC commends a 57.83pc hike in bulk power tariff rejecting BPDB’s 65.57pc “As there is a gas shortage, we have to run liquid-fuel based rental and quick rental power plants on full capacity to meet the demands," he told UNB. He also said these plants don’t oblige the government to make 'capacity payment' - i.e. payment for unused electricity that was the case with some earlier contracts. “As a result, the cost of electricity from these extended rental power plants came down by 30-40 per cent from the original cost," Nasrul said. The government documents show that of the approved five plants in March this year, three belong to Summit Group, one belongs to Dutch-Bangla Group and one to Orion Group. It was learnt that the government has to purchase electricity from the plants at Tk 16.40 per unit under the extended deals. Advisor of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) and energy expert Dr M Shamsul Alam expressed resentment about the repeated approval of the rental power plants saying that there is no logical basis for the extension. He said the government should have taken consumers’ opinion through public hearing at Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission before the approval. He also said, “No approval is made for the interest of the consumers. Rather, all the approvals were given only to serve the interest of certain vested quarters." At a press conference on Saturday the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) said raising power and gas prices will be suicidal to economy recovering from pandemic shocks.

A technical evaluation committee (TEC) of Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) at a public hearing on Wednesday recommended a 57.83 per cent hike in bulk power tariff against 65.57 per cent sought by the state-owned the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB). However, the participating consumer civil right groups including representatives from different business bodies at the hearing vehemently opposed any big rise in power tariff right now when the people are struggling with high inflation caused by high commodity prices. Also read:Public hearing on proposed hike in bulk power tariff Wednesday They termed the proposal an illogical one and said the BPDB can offset its revenue deficit through removing irregularities, corruption and unethical practice in buying electricity from inefficient private power plants at higher rates. The 5-member highest decision making body of the BERC did not give any decision on the appeal of the BPDB as the relevant law allows the watchdog body to take 90 days before a final decision. The public hearing was held at the BIAM Auditorium in the city with BERC chairman Abdul Jalil in the chair while all the four other members of the commission were present. BPDB’s General Manager (commercial) CFK Musaddek Ahmed placed the bulk power tariff proposal at the hearing while advisor of Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) Dr M Shamsul Alam, former BUET professor Dr Ijaz Hossain, Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) Vice President Mostafa Azad Chowdhury, former president Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) Barrister Nihad Kabir, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) senior assistant secretary Sajib Hossain, among others, opposed the proposal. Placing the proposal, BPDB general manager said the organization will require revenue of Tk 74,189 crore to generate 88,993 million kilowatt hours (units) of electricity to supply to the power distribution companies. “But if the BPDB sells its electricity at the existing rate of Tk 5.17 per unit, it will have to face a deficit of Tk 30,251 crore in revenue in the calendar year 2022. So, the BPDB needs to raise the power tariff by 65.57 per cent to Tk 8.56 per unit from Tk 5.17”, he told the hearing, adding that this has been calculated without the government’s subsidy. He also claimed the increase in the prices of imported gas, liquid petroleum fuels and coal have increased its power generation cost which compelled the organization to move the power hike proposal. Also read: BPDB to incur over Tk 30,000 cr loss if bulk power tariff not raised BERC technical evaluation committee member M Quamruzzaman disagreed with the calculation of the proposal and said the organization could raise its bulk power tariff by 57.83 per cent to Tk 8.16 per unit from existing Tk 5.17. Opposing both the proposals of BPDB and the TEC’s recommendations, Dr M Shamsul Alam raised about 60 questions to challenge the justification of the BPDB’s arguments. He said BPDB has been buying electricity from very inefficient power plants at much higher rates without maintaining any merit orders. In this case, the efficient and lost cost power plants of BPDB are being kept idle or suspended. “Purchase of electricity from higher rated plants instead of lower rated plants is a crime anti-nation activity”, he added. He said if the efficient combined cycle power plants are given preferences in power generation, the cost of power generation will substantially fall and the BPDB will not require raising the power tariff. Dr Ijaz Hossain said power tariff could be raised in phases, not in one go. A 57 per cent hike in a single phase has never happened. “You have to look at the irregularities and corruption to lower the power production cost”, he told BERC.

A public hearing on a proposal for raising electricity tariff at bulk level will be held on Wednesday. Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) will hold the hearing at Biam Auditorium in the city from 10.30 am to 5 pm in response to an appeal of the state-run Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB). Also read: BPDB to incur over Tk 30,000 cr loss if bulk power tariff not raised The BPDB moved the proposal urging the energy regulator to set the bulk power tariff at Tk8.58 instead of existing Tk 5.17 per kilowatt hour (each unit). The BPDB claims in its proposal to the energy regulator that it will incur a loss of Tk 30,251 crore in the current fiscal year if the bulk tariff is not raised. It attributed to the increasing fuel cost and other soaring expenses for financial losses saying that the production cost of electricity has gone up to Tk 4.24 per unit in 2022 from Tk 2.13 in the fiscal year 2019-20. Power industry insiders said that it is obvious that if the bulk electricity tariff is raised, it will ultimately push up the tariff at retail level. Any rise in bulk tariff will be applicable for the power distribution companies as they are the bulk consumers. They buy electricity from BPDB in bulk and then sell it to public at retail rates. So, the public hearing on retail tariff will come consequently, said an industry insider. Also read: Public hearing on proposed hike in bulk power tariff May 18 All the state-owned power distribution companies have already submitted their respective proposals to the BERC to raise the power rates at retail level. But this time, the BERC is going to hold public hearing on bulk tariff proposal keeping pending the request for raising retail price.

Officials of the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) forecast that the demand for electricity may reach 15,500 MW per day during the ongoing summer and upcoming Ramadan. Besides, the demand for gas to generate electricity may be 1,500 million cubic feet per day (MMCFD). Read: 5 rental power plants with 457 MW get 2-year extension They made the projection at an inter-ministerial meeting at the Power Division on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the BPDB official data shows the country’s maximum power generation was recorded 13,347 MW on Monday against an installed capacity of 22,296 MW while 2208 MW electricity could not be generated due to gas shortage. It also shows there was no load shedding across the country on the day while 1105.40 MMCFD gas was supplied to the power plants for power generation. Last month, a similar meeting forecast that the country’s power generation may go up to 14,500 MW this summer. Power secretary Habibur Rahman presided over the  meeting while Prime Minister’s Energy Advisor Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury was present as chief guest in it.  Analysing the overall situation, the meeting instructed the officials to keep the power and gas supply normal and not to resort to any load shedding during Ifter, Shehri and Tarabi prayers. It also asked them to keep adequate number of transformers in their reserves to avoid any interruption in power supply due to technical faults. The meeting instructed all the power distribution companies to remain alert so that any technical fault or interruption in power supply cannot take place while asked the gas production entities to increase the gas supply. Read: BPDB set to retire about 4000 MW power by 2025: Official document It asked the concerned entities to take punitive measures against the illegal electricity and gas connection holders and conduct mobile court operations against the illegal users of gas and electricity. The meeting was addressed by senior secretary of the energy division Mahbub Hossain, BPDB chairman Belayet Hossain and Power Cell director general Mohammad Hossain.

The government has decided to extend the tenure of another gas-fired rental power plant by 4 more years. The Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase (CCPP) in a meeting on Wednesday approved a proposal of state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) in this regard. Nine other proposals from entities under different ministries received the approval. Read:Cabinet body okays extension of deals with 4 rental power plants Four similar rental power plants’ contracts were extended by the same committee for different tenures last week. Purchase of electricity from grid-tied solar power plants to be set up by private firms, procurement of SPC poles for electricity expansion project, and purchase of fertiliser were among the proposals received approval in the CCPP's latest meeting . Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal presided over the virtual meeting while members of the committee attended it. As per the latest proposal placed by the Power Division, the BPDB’s Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with  private firm Venture Energy Resources Ltd. will extend for another 4 years to get electricity from the existing 40 MW gas-fired rental power plant in Bhola. For this purchase, the BPDB will have to spend Tk 380.90 crore during the extended contract period. However, the power tariff has been lowered to 3.3970 US cents (Tk 2.7176) from 3.49 US Cents (Tk 2.79) per kilowatt hour (each unit) which will save Tk 49.88 crore in next 4 years, said additional secretary of the Cabinet Division Shamsul Arefin while briefing about the outcomes of the CCPA meeting. A proposal of Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB) received the approval of the cabinet purchase committee to procure 32,400 SPC poles from the Joint Venture of (1) Caslte Construction Co. Ltd. and (2) Poles and Concrete Ltd. Dhaka at a cost of Tk 31.59 crore. The committee approved a BPDB proposal to purchase electricity from a 70 MW grid-tied solar power plant to be set up by the Consortium of (1) Daehan Green Energy Co. Ltd; (2) HI korea Co. Ltd and (3) Pabna Solar Power Ltd at Ishwardi upazila of Pabna district. Read: Transmission infra: The missing link in Bangladesh's power play The BPDB will purchase electricity from the plant at 10.15 US Cents (equivalent to Tk 8.12) per kilowatt hour for which will involve a cost of Tk 1,843.20 crore over the contract period of 20 years. Another proposal of the BPDB received approval for purchasing electricity from a 50 MW grid-tied solar power plant to be set up by the Consortium of (1) Total Eren S.A., France; (2) Norwegian Renewables Group AS, Norway and (3) Urban Services Ltd, Bangladesh. The BPDB will purchase electricity from the plant at the same rate of 10.15 US Cents (equivalent to Tk 8.12) per kilowatt hour over the contract period of 20 years involving a cost of Tk 1,315.20 crore. The committee approved a proposal of the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) to import 30,000 metric tons (MT) of bulk granular urea fertiliser from Distribution Limited, UAE at a cost of Tk 246.77 crore while another similar proposal of the same entity to import 30,000 MT of bulk fertiliser at Tk 246.77 from Muntajat of Qatar received the nod of the committee. The BCIC’s another proposal to import 25,000 MTS of rock phosphate from Gentrade, UAE, at Tk81.49 crore received the approval of the committee. The committee approved two separate proposals of the Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC) to import 40,000 MT of DAP fertiliser at Tk 309.06 crore and 30,000 MT of MOP fertiliser at Tk 152.92 crore. Each metric ton of DAP will cost at $900 and MOP at $593.75 considering US dollar rate at Tk 85.50.

An agreement was signed on Wednesday between the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Chinese firm China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) to develop the country’s first ever waste-based power plant in Dhaka.   The power plant will generate 42.5 MW of electricity from the garbage in the capital city. Welcoming the deal, LGRD and Cooperatives Minister M Tajul Islam has said a new era will begin in Dhaka city’s garbage management with the implementation of the project. Read: Ministry to offer financial support to promote research in energy, power sector: Nasrul Under the agreement, Dhaka city will supply 3,000 mts of solid waste to the project daily while CMEC will set up an incineration plant to generate 42.5 MW power and BPDB will purchase the electricity from the plant at US21.78 Cents, equivalent to Tk 18.295, per kilowatt hour (each unit) over the period of 25 year. A number of associated agreements were signed between the parties to implement the projects under which the DNCC will also provide 30 acres of land to set up the incineration and power plant at Aminbazar in the city while the CMEC will complete the construction of the project and start commercial operation within 24 months from the financial closing. The Chinese firm will complete the financial closing of the project within nine months of the contract’s effective date. Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) will build required power transmission lines to evacuate electricity from the project. The agreement was signed at a function at Sonargaon Hotel in the city while State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid, DNCC Mayor Atiqul Islam, and Chinese Ambassador in Bangladesh Li Jiming also spoke. Read: Bangladesh’s future focus may be on nuclear energy use: Dr Tawfiq Tajul Islam said the project was undertaken in line with Bangladesh’s commitment to the COP26 conference to reduce the carbon emission. Nasrul Hamid said similar projects will also be taken in all other City Corporation areas across the country. Mayor Atiqul Islam said the DNCC and the DSCC have been working together to introduce electric vehicles in the city as part of the government’s commitment to green energy. “No fuel-fired vehicles will be allowed in Dhaka city to run in near future,”he added.