Experts opine for using inactive power plants
Staff Reporter :
Experts are of the opinion that instead of keeping idle the inactive rental power plants should be put into service as those as have the potentials to generate electricity and are receiving mandatory payment every year without generating electricity.
Sources said that the expenditure on electricity accounts in inactive power plants has increased by 29 percent in the fiscal year 2022-23, compared to the previous year, reaching a total expenditure of Tk 17,621 crore.
In the fiscal year 2021-22, the Bangladesh Power Development Board gave a capacity charge, a legally mandatory payment on private power plants through power deals, of Tk 13,701 crore.
Currently, the country has a power generation capacity of 25,951 megawatts, but half of it is not utilised, sources said.
Moreover, during the winter season, the demand for electricity often falls below 6,000 megawatts.
A former managing director of the Power Cell, Rahmatullah, stated that the government has initiated the power charge in unnecessary power agreements, providing businesses with the opportunity to make excessive profits.
While the capacity charge can be temporarily used in emergency situations, it is not advisable to continue with it indefinitely, he stated.
He pointed out that before 2010, there was no provision for capacity charges.
Despite a dollar crisis, at least 27 domestic and foreign companies received power payments in the past fiscal year, and they always paid in dollars.
With a payment of Tk 1997.92 crore, Summit Group tops the list of power charge receivers.
This amount constitutes over 11 percent of the total funds provided to inactive power plants last year.
This includes CMCE, a China-based company owning half of the 1320-megawatt Payra Power Plant, and NTPC, owning half of the Rampal Power Plant with a capacity of 1320 megawatts. Semcorp owns approximately one-third of the 410-megawatt power plant in Sirajganj, and they receive 250 megawatts of electricity from India.
According to the Bangladesh Working Group on External Debt (BWGED) report, Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB)’s loss reached Tk 76,115.10 crore, equal to the amount of Tk 72,567 crore in capacity charges given at the same time.
While the government has failed to create sufficient reserves to cover the expenses in the power sector, significant devaluation has occurred. Despite substantial budget allocations by the government, the annual loss in the power sector has increased.
In the past fiscal year, the highest-ever amount of Tk 39,534 crore was allocated. However, the loss in the power sector reached a record Tk 11,765 crore taka.
Nasrul Hamid, State Minister for the Minister of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources, stated in September that since the Awami League government came to power in 2009, they have provided 1.04 trillion Taka to 82 independent power producers and 32 rental power plants.
In the last 14 years, independent power producers received Tk 76,242 crore, while rental power plants received TK 28,684 crore, as reported by the minister, he said.
Experts said that when the government is providing payments to the inactive power plants, these should be activated to meet the growing needs of electricity during the hottest months when the demands go unabated.
