Commercial production at Rampal Power Plant 2nd unit in Sept

Staff Reporter :
The Rampal power plant (second unit) is undergoing step-by-step load testing, and it is expected to enter commercial production in September this year.

Earlier, the trial run of supplying 660MW electricity from the second unit to the national grid was completed on last 28 June.

Furthermore, production at the first unit of the plant will resume within the next seven days after undergoing necessary maintenance work.

According to plant officials, the first 660MW unit of the 1,320MW Maitri Super Thermal Power Project has been operational since December 2022 which currently facing technical glitches, mechanical faults and coal shortage.

Anwarul Azim, DGM (HR and PR) of Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company (Pvt) Ltd, said a shipment of 55,000 tons of coal arrived on July 7. Additionally, the power plant currently stores 20,000 tons of coal, and an assured supply of 8 million tons has been secured for the next three years.

These shipments will arrive in phases from Indonesia. Once both units of the 1,320MW power plant are fully operational, a daily coal requirement of 8,000 tons will be necessary, he informed.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and India’s NTPC for the implementation of the Rampal Power Plant Project in 2010.

According to the MoU, Rampal was supposed to begin production in 2018. However, the deadline was extended several times for various reasons, including the Covid-19 pandemic.

The 1,320MW coal-fired power plant was set up at a cost of approximately $2 billion and is located in Rampal, Bagerhat, Khulna division.

The Maitree Super Thermal Power Project was constructed under the Indian government’s concessional financing scheme.