2 units of Matarbari power plant goes offline due to coal shortage

The power generation of the two units of the Matarbari 1,200MW coal-fired plant in Moheshkhali upazila of Cox's Bazar has been stopped due to a shortage of coal.

The two units of the power plant went offline on Thursday due to a coal supply shortage and power generation is expected to resume by the end of November, said Muhammad Monowar Hossain Mojumder, superintendent engineer (operation) of the power plant.

Of the two units, one went on power generation in July and another one in December 2023 with the coal imported from Japan.

He said they have so far brought 22.5 lakh tonnes of coal from Japan through its Sumitomo Corporation for the power plant and the stock has already finished.

As per the contract, Sumitomo Corporation sent its last consignment at the middle of the last August.

According to many project officials, the authorities of the Coal Power Generation Company have been calling for international tenders for coal supply for three years.

But, Abul Kalam Azad, former project director, has delayed the tender process by at least 10 months with an intention to provide benefits to a specific company illegally.

Following a writ petition lodged by other contracting farm over the irregularities, the High Court imposed a six months ban on importing the coal for the power plant.

Though, the Supreme Court later stayed the ban order, long-term coal import has been facing uncertainty since then.

While talking to the correspondent, Monowar Hossain said initiative is being taking by the government to get rid of the situation and the plant is expected to resume operation by the next month.

The Matarbari 2x600 MW Ultra Super Critical Coal Fired Power Plant was built on 1,414 acres of land in Matarbari and Dhalghata unions of Cox's Bazar.

The project has been implement with a total project cost worth Tk 51,854.88 crore.

And of which, Tk6,406.16 crore came from Bangladesh government, Tk 43,921.03 crore from Japan International Cooperation Agency and Tk 1,527.69 crore from the Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Limited (CPGCBL).