The Power Division has not yet tabled detailed documents on latest status of the country's all 23 coal-fired power plant projects to the Prime Minister (PM) to fix the fate of under-construction and proposed coal-fired power plant projects.
Sources said the division under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR) has already prepared the documents. But it is waiting for some high-ups of the ministry to place those to the PM, who is also in charge of the MPEMR.
The division will also revise the Power System Master Plan (PSMP) following the PM's recommendation on the coal-fired power plants. The previous PSMP was initiated in 2016, but was adopted after finalisation in 2018.
Officials said implementation of all the under-construction and proposed coal-fired power plant projects in the country is lagging behind schedule, resulting in uncertainty over their completion on time.
Currently, the country has a total of 23 coal-fired power plant projects, including the three that have already come online.
Work of the three plants - two at Barapukuria having a total capacity of 525 megawatts (MW) and another 1,320-MW capacity plant of Bangladesh China Power Company Ltd (BCPCL) at Payra - was also completed behind the scheduled timeline.
Among these, the latest one - the BCPCL's plant - came online in the middle of last year, almost one year after its scheduled commissioning date.
Besides, seven government, private and joint venture (JV) coal-fired power plants are at under-construction stage and running much behind their planned work schedule.
Among these plants, around 30 per cent construction work of privately-owned 307-MW power plant of Barishal Electric Power Company Ltd was completed until November 2020. But its scheduled commissioning date passed a year ago in January 2020.
SS Power Ltd completed only 40 per cent of the project work of Chattogram 1,224-MW plant, although its latest project completion date is June 2022 after a two-year extension.
Indian Adani Power Ltd completed around half of the work of its 1,600-MW plant, which is scheduled to supply electricity to Bangladesh from January 2022.
Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company Ltd (BIFPCL) could complete around 60 per cent of its project work on Maitree 1,320-MW super thermal power plant at Rampal. The scheduled commissioning date of its first unit is in February 2021.
Around 16 per cent project work of the 1,320-MW power plant of the joint venture of Rural Power Company Ltd and Norinco International Power Ltd in Patuakhali was completed against its scheduled commissioning date of August 2023.
Besides, around 20 per cent project work of BCPCL's second Payra 1,320-MW thermal plant was completed, and its scheduled commissioning date is December 2023.
Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Ltd (CPGCBL) could complete around 35 per cent project work of Matarbari 1,200-MW ultra-supercritical coal-fired thermal power plant against its scheduled commissioning date of January 2024.
Besides, the construction work of 13 coal-fired power plants is yet to start. These include: the second phase of Matarbari 1,200-MW ultra-supercritical coal-fired thermal power plant of CPGCBL, Patuakhali 1,320-MW plant of Ashuganj Power Station Company Ltd (APSCL), Uttarbanga 1,200-MW super-thermal plant of APSCL, Mawa 522-MW plant of Orion Power Ltd (OPL), Gazaria 635-MW plant of OPL, Dhaka 282-MW plant of Orion Power and Associates (OPA), Chattogram 282-MW plant of OPA, Khulna 565-MW plant of Orion Power Khulna Ltd, and Mirsarai 1,320-MW plant of Hong Kong's consortium of Hangzhou Jinjiang Group Co Ltd, Hangzhou Zhengcai Holding Group Co Ltd and Jindu Energy Equipment.
The construction work of Moheshkhali 1,320-MW plant of Bay of Bengal Power Company Ltd, Moheshkhali 1,320-MW plant of BPDB, Bangladesh-Singapore 700-MW plant of CPGBL, and CPGCBL-Sumitomo 1,200-MW ultra-supercritical plant has not also started yet.
Various complexities in constructing the coal-fired power plants, like - lack of sufficient funding arrangements, are among the main reasons behind the slow pace in executing these projects, senior energy ministry officials said.
The delay in constructing these coal-fired power plants has prompted the government to award many oil-fired power plants without any tender, resulting in surplus electricity generation.
The widening gap between the country's overall electricity generation capacity and demand has pushed the government to review the status of such plants, they added.
