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.

Sales and Distribution Division of Sylhet Power Development Board (PDB) on Sunday published a new schedule of load shedding which shows some areas in Sylhet city won’t have electricity for 13 hours a day. Electricity generation falls in the country due to soaring prices of fuel in the world market. To save electricity, the government enforced area-wise load shedding for one to two hours all over the country from July 19. Following the decision, Sylhet PDB decided to resort to load shedding for four hours (Two hours in the morning, two hours in the evening) in Sylhet city area on a daily basis. Read:Most distributors cross targeted load shedding amid lean power supply But, PDB’s schedule failed as Sylhet city residents experienced load shedding for seven to eight hours per day. The authorities said the schedule could not be maintained as supply of electricity less than half compared to the demand. The rural areas of Sylhet are also facing a disastrous situation as electricity remains for only four to five hours a day there, said locals. Abdul Kadir, Chief Engineer of Sylhet PDB, said that in the five power divisions in Sylhet city, electricity demand was 200 MW on Sunday afternoon. But, they managed to supply only 90 MW of electricity. “Load shedding is happening for longer hours due to a shortage in electricity supply,” Kadir said. Kadir hoped that the situation might improve within next two to three weeks.  

Despite surplus electricity generation over supply, the government in the last four months extended the contracts of a total of 10 rental power plants. Official documents of the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase (CCPP) reveal the latest approval came on March 23 this year for extension of deals for 5 rental power plants. Earlier 4 rental power plants got the approval for contracts extension on January 5 this year and one got approval for extension on December 29 last year. Although the deals were extended on “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. Also read:Power flow set up from Payra plant to Rampal sub-station As per the BPDB statistics, the current total electricity generation capacity now stands at 25,514 MW while the supply is about 14,000 MW meaning that the country has an installed surplus capacity of 11,500 MW. 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 extended for “emergency necessity” to tackle the current situation. “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 percent from the original cost," Nasrul Hamid said. The government documents show that of the approved 5 plants in March this year, three belong to Summit Group, one belongs to Dutch-Bangla Group and one to Orion Group. As per the approval the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) will pay Tk 459.98 crore to Summit Group for purchase of electricity from its 40 MW furnace oil–based plant of the Khulna Power Plant, Tk 1295.42 crore to its Khulna Power Company Unit-II Ltd’s 115 MW Goalpara plant, and Tk 1157.52 crore to its Summit Narayanganj Power Limited’s 102 MW Madanganj plant.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has inaugurated five power plants as the government planned to bring the country’s 100 percent population under electricity coverage. Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the power plants, having a total electricity generation capacity of 779MW, through a videoconference from Ganobhaban on Sunday. The five power plants are Bibiyana-III 400MW Combined Cycle Power Plant in Habiganj, Zulda, Chittagong 100MW Power Plant Unit-2, Meghnaghat 104MW Power Plant in Narayanganj, Modhumoti 100MW Power Plant in Bagerhat and upgradation of Sylhet 150MW Power Plant to 225MW Combined Cycle Power Plant in Sylhet. Prime Minister's Power and Energy advisor Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid, the Power Secretary and the chairman of the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) were present at Bijoy Hall of Bidyut Bhaban during the opening ceremony. According to the Power Ministry, the government has successfully constructed 119 power plants with an electricity production capacity of 20,293MW since assuming power in 2009.The government had targeted to generate 24,000 MW electricity by 2021, and the target has already been exceeded as it reached 25,235 MW (including captive power), which was 4,942 MW in 2009, bringing around 99.5 percent of the population under electricity coverage.The ministry says the per capita electricity generation reached 560kWh, which was only 220kWh in 2009. The system loss has been brought down to 8.49 percent from 14.33 percent, it added. Larsen and Toubro (L&T), a leading India-based multinational conglomerate, has commissioned the 400 MW Bibiyana-III Combined Cycle Power Plant, located near the Sylhet division, for the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB). L&T executed its first gas turbine-based power plant for BPDB at Chittagong by constructing 225 MW Sikalbaha power plant and this was closely followed by 410 MW Bheramara CCPP in Kushtia for North West Power Generation Limited (NWPGCL). In all these projects, L&T performed end-to-end responsibility including design, engineering, supply, installation and commissioning of the complete power plant. L&T has installed & commissioned most advanced state of the art Gas Turbines and Steam Turbines from OEMs of global repute at these power plants. With the addition of power from Bibiyana Power Plants, the L&T-executed power plants have successfully added more than 1.0 GW of Clean and Green power to the Bangladesh national grid in the last five years. Came into operation on March 20, 2020, Chittagong 100MW Power Plant Unit-2 was implemented as an independent power plant (IPP) by the private sponsor Acorn Infrastructure Service Unit-2 Limited under a power purchase agreement with state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB). The Meghnaghat 104 MW power plant, which started its operation on June 30 2020, was implemented by Orion Power Sonargaon Limited as IPP under a PPA with the BPDB while Modhumati 100 MW power plant was set up by the state-owned North-West Power Generation Company Limited which was installed by Chinese EPC contractor China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMC). The plant came into operation in April 2019. The Sylhet 225 MW power plant was upgraded as a combined cycle power plant from a 150 MW plant by the BPDB through the Chinese EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) contractor Shanghai Electric Group Company Ltd.

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid has said that about Tk 9,000 crore electricity bills have been pending with consumers since the coronavirus outbreak in March last year. 

Speakers at a webinar on Saturday observed that people in the country’s north are still not getting the full benefit of electricity generation due to inadequate transmission facilities.

Though Bangladesh has made substantial strides in overall power generation over three terms of the Awami League, the government's efforts to meet its own target for power generation from renewable energy have failed to keep up.