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Bogra 20MW Rental Power Plant uncertain
Hasibur Rahman Bilu, Bogra
After failing to fulfil contractual obligations and then suing the government to dodge penalty for that, local company Energy Prima is now asking the Power Development Board to take 14 megawatts of “free” electricity from its 24 MW Bogra rental power project. So far the PDB has not responded to the proposal to avoid legal complications. Energy Prima sent two letters to the PDB and power ministry last May, seeking permission to supply free power to the national grid. However, it seeks the fuel and operational cost for the power generation. The Bogra plant was supposed to come into operation in May 2008. As the company failed to meet the deadline, the PDB extended this time up till October 2008. But till date, Energy Prima–which had no prior experience of running a rental plant– could not commercially launch the plant. According the contract the company was to supply power till May 2011. Secretary of the power ministry Abul Kalam Azad earlier told The Daily Star over cell phone that a few months ago, the management of the plant resorted to court and obtained a stay order asking the government not to take any step against the company according to the agreements. That’s why the government has not yet taken any steps about the proposal, he added. “To encourage the Bangladeshi company, the government had extended the launching deadline of the plant by a few months from October 2008 without any hesitation, but the plant is yet to start generating power and it is uncertain when the plant will start power generation according to the agreement” Azad noted. Earlier on February 20, Chairman of Energy Prima Ltd Moazzam Hossain told The Daily Star over cell phone that the plant was yet to start generating power due to shortage of equipment but it was ready to generate and supply 14 MW power to the national grid as per the proposal. Chowdhury Monibur Rahman, general manager of Energy Prima, claimed that the government could save Tk 2.5 crore every month if the PDB took the 14 MW of electricity. He said the plant would supply 20 MW power to the national grid within 70 days of acceptance of the proposal. Electricity tariff goes up from March Bss, Dhaka
Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) is set to increase the power tariff by 3 to 5 percent at the retail level from March 1. Officials of the commission told BSS yesterday that the power tariff would be increased by 3 to 5 percent at the retail level for all electricity distributing agencies. The distributing agencies include Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC), Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited (Desco), Rural Electrification Board (Reb), West Zone Power Distribution Company (WZPDCO) and The Power Development Board (PDB). The government last increased the power tariff in 2007 by 5 percent at the retail level. BERC completed public hearing on the power tariff increase proposal of all distributing agencies last year. The officials said the DPDC proposed increase in power tariff by 12.33 percent, Desco by 10.18 percent, Reb by 11.52 percent, WZPDCO by 15.18 percent and the PDB by 24.31 percent. According to the PDB’s proposal, the difference between the power supply cost and the sale stands at Tk 0.87 per unit, 24.31 percent higher than the billing cost. However, the high cost power plants would increase the production cost of the state run organisation, it added. |
