When Indian company Adani Group is posing a hidden threat to power supply, the full production at the Banshkhali 1320 MW power plant has brought a lot of relief. The Power Development Board (PDB) believes that the full production of this power plant, known as the most economical among the large coal-based power plants in the country, will help reduce the average cost.
National Load Dispersion Center (NLDC) sources said that as per their demand, 660 MW was supplied from the first unit and 659 MW from the second unit at 10 am on Thursday (November 28).
The Banshkhali 1320 MW power plant is located in the Gandamara area of Banshkhali (Chattogram) on the banks of the Bay of Bengal. The power plant is known as the most economical among the large coal-based power plants. That is why Banshkhali is at the top of the Power Development Board's list of lowest cost generation. The fuel cost per unit of electricity is around 7.56 taka. The production cost of other coal-based power plants is even higher. If the same amount of electricity is supplied using furnace oil, it will cost around Tk. 18 per unit. If the 1320 MW power plant is fully produced, it can produce around 95 crore units of electricity per month. If the same amount of electricity is obtained from furnace oil instead of coal, the government will have to pay an additional Tk. 950 crore which can be a huge challenge for the interim government. Not only financially, but also technically, it is quite complicated to supply that amount of electricity. The PDB believes that if full-scale production is continued continuously, the average production cost of electricity will come down a lot. There are 4 large coal-based power plants in the country, each of which has a production capacity of over 1200 MW. And there are 4 smaller units, one of which is 307 MW (Barishal), one of which is 275 MW (Barapukuria) and two of which are 125 MW (Barapukuria).
In addition, 1,600 MW of electricity is imported from the Indian company Adani. The Adani Group has an outstanding bill of about Tk. 10,000 crore. Due to this, the company announced and closed one unit from October 31. It threatened to close the second unit if the dues were not paid by November 7. Later, they backed down from that decision. Bangladesh has also continued to pay some of the dues.
In addition to the arrears, a High Court writ has been filed challenging Adani's agreement. The electricity generated from the power plant was supposed to be supplied only to Bangladesh. After the change of power in Bangladesh, Adani approved an alternative arrangement to supply electricity to India as well. Overall, there is a growing distance between the two sides.
In the wake of the High Court's appeal to cancel Adani's contract, the Power and Energy Secretary has been directed to form a high-powered inquiry with the participation of international energy and legal experts. The court said that a committee has been ordered to be formed within one month of the order to submit a detailed report on the November 5, 2017 agreement (power purchase agreement with India's Adani Group). The committee has been ordered to submit a report to the court within 60 days of the formation of the committee. The government's concerned authorities (respondents) have been directed to investigate whether the proper process was followed in the execution of the agreement executed under a special law and submit a report to the court within 60 days of the order. Overall, there is a kind of uncertainty regarding the power plant agreement. In this situation, the full-scale production of the SS Power-1 Limited power plant has brought relief to the government.