Dollar crisis still weighs on Rampal plant

Dollar crisis is still putting pressure on coal imports, hampering the uninterrupted electricity generation at the Rampal Power Plant.

Despite Unit-1 of the Rampal Power Plant resuming electricity generation after partially overcoming the coal crisis, a top official of Bangladesh India Power Plant Company (Pvt) expressed concerns that the plant could experience a sudden shutdown in May due to the same fuel crisis, especially during the hot summer month.

“We have opened Letters of Credit (LCs) to meet the requirement and smooth operation of the plant until April 2023. But after that, I cannot say anything,” said Subash Chandra Pandey, the Project Director of the Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company Ltd Managing Director, during a visit by a group of energy reporters to the plant site on Thursday.

The company has already assigned a contractor to import another two lakh tonnes of coal required for the second phase of the plant until April. The company has also assigned the import of 50,000 metric tonnes of coal, which may arrive at Mongla next week, he said.

The plant requires 9000 tonnes of coal to operate at full capacity, he added.

“Now, unit-1 has started producing electricity,” he said. The unit-2 of the plant will start synchronizing in July, and they are expected to complete the reliability test by September 2023.

He admitted to poor drafting of the River, and said the authorities are conducting regular dredging to confirm the navigation of the channel to transport the coal.

Regarding the environment compliance of the plant, he confirmed that it has been operated with compliance.

He added that the per unit cost at Rampal will be Tk 14-15. However, it depends on the variable cost of the imported coal, and the fixed cost of the plant is around Tk 3-4 per kilowatt hour or per unit.

He also mentioned that the coal prices are over $250 per tonne due to the abnormal international market caused by the Russia-Ukraine war. It was below $100 two years back. He added that the international coal prices would determine the tariff of the power plant.

The physical progress of the power plant was 90.45 percent till January 2023, while it was 82.66 percent at the same period of time. The unit-1 of the Rampal power plant has so far produced 491 million units of electricity until last month, with uninterrupted operation for 20 days, including 147 hours of uninterrupted electricity generation during the reliable test, the official informed the journalists.

The joint venture of the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and the National Thermal Power Company of India signed the joint venture of Tk 160 billion in 2012.