A 38.50 megawatt gas-fired quick rental plant in Bhola is likely to get an extension for three more years, official sources said.
Power Division has moved a proposal in this regard for the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase.
Privately-owned Venture Energy Resources Limited set up the plant in 2012 and the state-owned Power Development Board (PDB) signed a three-year contract with the company to purchase its electricity at a rate of US cents 4.356 (equivalent to Tk. 3.48) per unit (each kilowatt hour).
The contract was signed on the unsolicited basis under the Speedy Increase of Power and Energy Supply (Special Act).
According to an official document of the Power Division, after expiry of the contract, the government extended the power purchase agreement (PPA) for another two years. The tenure of the PPA also ended on July 11 in 2016.
Then again the company submitted a proposal to the government seeking a 10-year extension of its contract.
After scrutiny of the proposal, a technical evaluation committee also supported the proposal and recommended the PPA could be extended for another 3 years or more time.
However, this time the committee renegotiated the power tariff at Tk. 3.21, down from previous Tk. 3.48 per unit.
But, UNB said, experts in power sector believed that the tariff could be reduced further as this time the company has to bear no capital cost.
The Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase is scheduled to consider the proposal in its meeting on Wednesday. Once the proposal is approved by the committee, the PDB will sign the contract for another three years, said a top PDB official.
