Rampal unit goes offline
Bangladesh’s struggle to maintain a stable power supply has intensified as a technical fault forced one unit of the Rampal coal-fired power plant offline yesterday, cutting the facility’s generation by nearly half just as another major source of electricity from India was returning to the national grid.
The second unit of the 1,320MW Rampal power plant in Bagerhat stopped operating at around 11am, reducing the plant’s output from more than 1,100MW to below 600MW, according to Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) sources.
The development came as Adani Power’s Godda plant in Jharkhand resumed generation from its previously offline unit, partly offsetting the loss from Rampal.
Anwarul Azim, general manager (human resources) of the Rampal plant, confirmed the shutdown and said the unit had been completely taken offline because of a technical fault.
“It will take at least four days to resume operations,” he told the media.
Work was under way to restore the unit, while the first unit continued supplying electricity to the national grid, he said. However, the official could not specify the nature of the technical fault.
Meanwhile, Adani Power’s second unit resumed supplying electricity to Bangladesh’s national grid at around noon yesterday, after being shut down because of a technical problem late on Thursday night (10 September).
The combined output from Adani’s two units rose to more than 1,046MW around 2pm, compared with about 758MW earlier in the day. BPDB and PGCB sources said generation could increase further during the afternoon.
The Godda plant in Jharkhand has an installed capacity of 1,600MW, comprising two 800MW units. BPDB signed a power purchase agreement with Adani Power in 2017.
Depending on demand, the plant has previously supplied more than 1,500MW to Bangladesh.
However, Godda had been operating at reduced capacity for about a month because of coal shortages caused by disruptions to coal transportation following a storm.
Its generation began recovering towards the end of last month, reaching around 900MW during the day and as much as 1,200MW from the evening until midnight.
The plant’s output crossed 1,430MW around 1am on 9 September before one of its units shut down, reducing generation to below 750MW. With the second unit now back in operation, Adani’s supply to Bangladesh has started to increase.
The latest shutdown has added to a history of operational difficulties at the Rampal plant, which has experienced repeated interruptions caused by technical problems and other factors.
The 1,320MW plant, jointly developed by Bangladesh and India, had also faced production cuts because of coal shortages. Its generation had recently recovered to more than 1,100MW after coal supplies improved.
The project was initiated as a Bangladesh-India joint venture in 2010. On 29 January 2012, BPDB and India’s NTPC Ltd signed an agreement that led to the formation of Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company (Pvt) Ltd (BIFPCL).
Under BIFPCL, construction of the 1,320MW Maitree Super Thermal Power Project, commonly known as the Rampal power plant, began after 1,034 acres of land were acquired in Sapmari-Kai-Gordashkathi mouzas under Rajnagar and Gourambha unions of Rampal upazila.
The project was built at a cost of around Tk16,000 crore.
The first unit began generation on 23 December 2022, while the second unit started trial generation on 24 October 2023. Commercial operations officially began on 12 March 2024.
Since then, the plant’s generation has been disrupted more than 30 times because of technical faults and other reasons, according to reports.
With the second unit now offline, efforts are continuing to restore it, while the first unit remains in operation and supplies electricity to the national grid.
The latest disruption highlights the continuing vulnerability of Bangladesh’s power supply to equipment failures, fuel shortages and disruptions at major generating facilities, with the country relying on a limited number of large plants and imported energy sources to meet demand.
