All the under-construction and proposed coal-fired power plant projects in the country are behind schedule, resulting in uncertainty over their completion on time.
It has been alleged that the delay in the project works is perplexing the government sorting out a proper plan for power generation in future.
Other fuel-run power plants especially oil-fired and gas-fired ones were well ahead of schedule and even some plants came online ahead of scheduled time, a senior official of Power Division under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources told the FE.
Sources said currently the country has a total of 23 coal-fired power plant projects including three that have already come online.
Work of the three plants-two at Barapukuria having a total capacity of 525 megawatts, or MW, and another 1,320 MW capacity plant of Bangladesh China Power Company Ltd, or BCPCL at Payra-was also completed behind scheduled timeline.
Among them, the latest one-the 1,320 MW capacity plant of the BCPCL, came online in the middle of this year, almost one year after its scheduled commissioning date.
Seven government, private and joint venture coal-fired power plants are at under-construction stage and running much behind of their planned work.
Among them, around 30 per cent construction work of privately-owned Barishal 307 MW power plant of Barishal Electric Power Company Ltd was completed until November 2020 although the scheduled commissioning date of the plant passed around 11 months ago in January 2020.
SS Power Ltd completed only 40 per cent of the project work on Chattogram 1,224 MW plant although its latest project completion date now stands June 2022 after a two-year extension.
Indian Adani Power Ltd has completed around half of the work of Jharkh and 1,600 MW plant of Indian Adani Power Ltd, which is scheduled to supply electricity to Bangladesh from January 2022.
Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company Ltd, or BIFPCL, could complete around 60 per cent of its project work on the Maitree 1,320 MW super thermal power plant at Ramphal though its scheduled commissioning date for the first unit is only two months away in February 2021.
Around 16 per cent of the project work on the joint venture 1,320 MW power plant between 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 of the project work on the second Payra 1,320 MW thermal plant of the BCPCL was completed against its scheduled commissioning date of December 2023.
Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Ltd, or CPGCBL, could complete around 35 per cent of the project work on the Matarbari 1,200 MW ultra-supercritical coal-fired thermal power plant against the scheduled commissioning date of January 2024.
The construction work on 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, or APSCL, Uttarbanga 1,200 MW super thermal plant of APSCL, Mawa 522 MW plant of Orion Power Ltd, or OPL, Gazaria 635 MW plant of OPL, Dhaka 282 MW plant of Orion Power and Associates, or OPA, Chattogram 282 MW plant of OPA, Khulna 565 MW plant of Orion Power Khulna Ltd, and Mirsarai 1,320 MW plant of the 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 (pvt) Ltd, Moheshkhali 1,320 MW plant of BPDB, Bangladesh-Singapore 700 MW plant of CPGBL, and CPGCBL-Sumitomo 1,200 MW ultra-supercritical plant of CPGBL has not also started yet.
Complexities in constructing coal-fired power plants including lack of sufficient funding arrangements are among the main reasons behind the slow pace of coal-fired power plants in executing projects, a senior energy ministry official said.
Sources said the delay in constructing the coal-fired power plants have pushed the government to award many oil-fired power plants without tender, resulting in surplus in electricity generation.
The widening gap between the country's overall electricity generation capacity and demand has prompted the government to review the status of such plants.
The government is also considering revisiting the Power System Master Plan, or PSMP, within a couple of years.
The previous PSMP was initiated in 2016 but was adopted after its finalization in 2018.
The government first adopted the PSMP in 2005, which was prepared by the BPDB focusing mainly on locally-produced natural gas to generate electricity.
Japan International Cooperation Agency, or JICA, later prepared the PSMP 2010, which was initiated to revisit in 2016 but was finalised after two years.
The PSMP 2010 and its subsequent review in 2016 focused on fuel mix to generate electricity eyeing on long-term strategy.
Azizjst@yahoo.com