The work to install underground cables has been completed in Hatirjheel area, although subsequent road repairs necessitated by the project are progressing slowly. According to official sources, both the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) and Dhaka Power Distribution Company Ltd (DPDC) completed their work in September and deposited their required money to the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) to repair the roads as per rule. Sources said that recently a Rajuk-appointed contractor has started the road repair works but it’s going on at a very slow pace. The DPDC and PGCB have laid the high voltage underground cables through digging the roads in the area to replace their overhead cables at the Hatirjheel lake. The DPDC first completed its part of the work in June, and then the PGCB’s work was completed in September, said the sources in the PGCB. PGCB officials said after completion of the works, the Rajuk will repair the roads as the area is under its jurisdiction. Underground power cabling works at Hatirjheel: Commuters’ ordeal unlikely to end soon

After about 5 hours of partial grid line failure, power supply was restored in west Dhaka, including Mohammadpur, Dhanmondi and Mirpur areas. “From our end, power transmission was restored at the 230 kV grid line at 10:38 am. But it takes some time to fully restore electricity supply to distribution line,” Badruddoza Sumon, public relation officer of Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB), told UNB. “We hope, gradually power supply will be restored in all areas,” he added. Shahnaz Begum, who lives on Babar Road in Mohammadpur, said that her home was without electricity as of 11 am. Also Read: Aminbazar-Agargaon grid line failure: No electricity in Mohammadpur, Mirpur areas The 230 kV grid line from Aminbazar-Agargaon failed at 5:50 am today (February 21, 2023) — leading to no electricity in the western part of Dhaka city, including the entire Mohammadpur and Mirpur areas. Officials from both PGCB and Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited  (DPDC) confirmed the development. “The grid transmission line tripped at 5:50 am,” PGCB official Sumon earlier said. Further explaining, he said due to dense fog, sometimes grid lines can break down. Read More: Committee to review existing deals on coal purchase for power generation This is not a technical fault of the system, he added. Aminbazar-Mohammadpur grid line is one of the main sources supplying electricity to some of Dhaka city’s important establishments, including the Prime Minister’s official residence and Dhaka cantonment. Power supply continued through alternative sources to those important establishments although regular consumers are without electricity.  Read More: TIB for reviewing Dhaka's power purchase deal with Adani Group

The 230 kV grid line from Aminbazar-Agargaon failed at 5:50 am today (February 21, 2023)— leading to no electricity in the western part of Dhaka city, including the entire Mohammadpur and Mirpur areas. Officials from both Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) and Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited  (DPDC) confirmed the development. “The grid transmission line tripped at 5:50 am,” Badruddoza Sumon, Public Relation Officer of the PGCB told UNB. Further explaining, he said due to the dense fog, sometimes grid lines can break down. Also Read: National power grid failure: Blackout across Bangladesh This is not a technical fault of the system, he added. He informed that the PGCB engineers are trying hard to restore the system by checking transmission towers. Aminbazar-Mohammadpur grid line is one of the main sources supplying electricity to some of Dhaka city’s important establishments, including the Prime Minister’s official residence and Dhaka cantonment. Power supply continued through alternative sources to those important establishments although regular consumers are without electricity. Read More: Committee to review existing deals on coal purchase for power generation Maniruzzaman, executive engineer of the Mohammadpur power distribution division of the DPDC, said power supply could not be restored until 9 am.

The 104 km Bogra (West) to Rohanpur 400 kV grid transmission line and substation is ready to carry electricity from Adani Power's 1,600 MW thermal power plant in Godda district of Indian state of Jharkhand, although the issue of revising the tariff structure, that the government of Bangladesh is belatedly pursuing, is not settled yet with the Indian company. “Our transmission line and associated substations are ready for operation. We’ve been conducting some test runs of the installations,” said Md. Alamgir Hossain, the project director of the Southwest Transmission Grid Expansion Project. According to official sources, the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) has been implementing the project with the financial support of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) at a total cost of Tk 3273.78 crore. The Bangladesh government and PGCB are also financing the project.     Read More: Why we take power from India’s Adani Group at higher prices, questions MP Chunnu The electricity from Adani Group will enter Bangladesh through a 26 km line from Bangladesh border to Rohanpur and then it will come to Bogura grid substation.   Recently, dismissing any uncertainty over the Adani power’s availability to Bangladesh national grid,   State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said the electricity from the Jharkhand power plant will be added to the national grid in March as per the agreement. As per the report, Adani Power recently sent a request for BPDB to issue the demand note, where the coal price is quoted at $400 per metric ton - far above what BPDB officials believe it should be given the present state of the international market. Read More: Adani Power team likely to visit Bangladesh to discuss coal price, power tariff  A highly placed source at the BPDB said that the organisation sent a letter date January 23 referring to State Minister-led delegation’s recent visit to the Adani plant mentioned, “During the discussion your side also opined that suitable mechanism will be devised to reduce this inconsistency of coal price by adjusting/changing the coal pricing mechanism of the power purchase agreement (PPA)”. Nasrul Hamid said the tariff of Adani's power will be competitive compared with other coal-fired plants like Payra power plant. However, official sources said BPDB is yet to receive any official reply from the Adani Group on its request for revising the power tariff through “adjusting/changing the coal pricing mechanism of the power purchase agreement (PPA)”. Read More: BPDB seeks revised agreement with Adani before importing power from Jharkhand plant “A representative has informed us that a high level team will visit Bangladesh soon to discuss the coal price and power tariff issue,” he told UNB on condition of anonymity.   Since practically all the power generated by the plant located in the Godda district of Jharkhand state will be exported to Bangladesh, Adani Power requires a demand note from BPDB that it can present to Indian authorities before opening LCs against the coal import. Adani Power recently sent a request for BPDB to issue the demand note, where the coal price is quoted at $400 per ton -- far above what BPDB officials believe it should be given the present state of the international market. Read More: The Tk 700 crore per month hole in the deal with Adani Power  “In our view, the coal price they have quoted ($400/MT) is excessive - it should be less than $250/MT, which is what we are paying for the imported coal at our other thermal power plants," the BPDB official said. A number of BPDB officials told UNB the Adani’s power tariff might be between Tk 20-22 per kilowatt hour (each unit) because of the absence of a provision for discounts on the purchase of coal in the PPA signed with Adani Power, that allowed the Indian firm to quote such a steep bill for the coal. The absence of such a provision is all the more notable since it was made mandatory in the PPAs for thermal power plants signed with other independent power producers, domestic or foreign. In these PPAs, the price of coal to be purchased as primary fuel was kept as “pass-through”. Read More: Adani’s 750 MW power to come to national grid in March: Nasrul Hamid Officials said that they have been working on a number of alternatives to offer Adani so that its coal price could be reduced to ultimately lower the power tariff. "If Adani's power tariff is not competitive, it would be difficult for BPDB to keep it on the merit list to take its electricity for the national grid,” said another top BPDB official.

A court in Barishal has sentenced two engineers of Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) to five years in jail for amassing illegal wealth worth Tk 1.36 crore. Barisal's Divisional Special Court judge Mehdi Al Masud handed down the judgment to the convicts -- Lakshmi Narayan Bhuya and Hanif Hossain Gazi of PGCB's Khulna Circle -- on Tuesday. The court also imposed a whopping fine of Tk 35 lakh on each of them, but acquitted Anwar Hossain, a former security inspector of PGCB, for lack of evidence. Read: Covid report scam: JKG’s Sabrina, hubby get 11 years in jail On August 20, 2017, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed a case against the three for embezzling money from a project. On January 21, 2018, the investigation officer in the case submitted a chargesheet against them.

Power Grid Company of Bangladesh Ltd. (PGCB) has signed a number of contracts with two Chinese joint venture companies to construct 11 grid substations in Khulna region. According to the PGCB, the grid sub-stations will enhance the capacity of high voltage power transmission in the greater Khulna region. The PGCB signed a contract for two joint ventures with China National Technical Import & Export Corporation (CNTIC) and Shanghai Electric Company (SEC) to set up a new indoor GIS Grid sub-station of 400/230/132 kV at Karer Hat area and upgrade the existing 230/33 kV grid sub-station at Mirsarai in Chattagram to a 400/230 kV grid sub-station. PGCB company secretary Md Jahangir Azad and CNTIC deputy general manager Zhang Kun signed the contract on behalf of their respective sides. READ: PGCB moves to transmit power from Payra, Rampal to Dhaka The two projects will cost Tk 736 crore.   As per the contract, the contractor will complete the job of the projects within next 30 months and hand them over to the PGCB.     Earlier on Sunday, another agreement was signed with the joint venture of China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) and China National Electric Engineering Company Limited (CNEEC) at the PGCB headquarters. Under the agreement, a 230/132/33 kV GIS grid substation at Rupsha and four grid substations with 132/33 KV capacity at Meherpur, Maheshpur, Fultala and Monirampur will be constructed. The capacity of the existing grid sub-stations at Satkhira, Kaliganj (Jessore) and Kushtia will be expanded to 132 kV Bay and Bagerhat sub-station to 132 kV GIS Bay. The work will cost about Tk 492 crore. READ: PGCB inks Tk 597cr deal with China firm to set up 4 grid substations PGCB Company Secretary Md. Jahangir Azad and CNEEC Deputy General Manager Ge Wenbo signed the contract on behalf of their respective sides. According to the agreement, the joint venture contractor will complete the job and hand over the substations to PGCB within the next 24 months. The signing ceremony was attended by PGCB Executive Director (P&D) Mohammad Yaqub Elahi Chowdhury, project directors and other senior officials from both the parties were present on the occasion.

Steps will be taken to import clean energy from the neighbouring nations alongside the ongoing efforts to increase the share of renewable energy in the energy mix, said State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid. He revealed the plan while addressing a presentation session of the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) on the country’s power transmission plan at a city hotel on Saturday. Nasrul said new sources of renewable energies are coming up to boost the energy mix against the backdrop of global climate change. Held with power secretary Habibur Rahman in the chair, the function was also addressed by Planning Commission member Sharifa Khan. Additional secretary of the power division Nurul Alam conducted the event. Read: USAID launches new clean energy project in Bangladesh Director of Power Grid Company India Limited Abhay Chowdhury made a presentation on the topic.

Four more power grid substations are going to be set up at different locations in the country while capacity of four more substations will be enhanced.   According to Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB), the implementing agency of the projects, the new substations, each having 230/132 kV, will be installed in Feni, Birulia (Savar), Noagan and East Sadipur (Dinajpur).    The substations, whose capacity will be extended, are 400/230 kV Bhulta (Narayanganj), 230/132 kV Bogra, 230/132 kV Barapukuria and 132/33 kV Niamatpur (Noagan).    The PGCB on Monday signed a bilateral contract with China National Technical Import and Export Corporation (CNTIEC) to implement the projects in order to facilitate enhanced power supply at batter quality.