The state-run Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) is keeping the country's overall electricity generation below the half mark of the installed capacity under a 'rationing' system in view of the sagging winter demand.
In such a situation the people are not getting the maximum benefit of the significant increase in the country's overall electricity generation over the past one decade, insiders said.
"We are producing less electricity due to the less demand in winter," BPDB chairman Khaled Mahmood told the FE on Wednesday.
Some power plants were asked to suspend operations and some were kept under maintenance work, he said.
Despite the plants remaining out of operation, the BPDB has been counting a capacity payment to them as they are ready to supply electricity.
The capacity payment is a sort of penalty, which the BPDB is bound to pay to the power plant owners, if the government fails to purchase a certain portion of the electricity readily available.
According to the BPDB statistics, the countrywide electricity generation during the evening peak hours on Tuesday (December 18) was 7,865 megawatts (MW), just 44.47 per cent of the country's total installed capacity of 17,685 MW.
Power generation during the off-peak hours (day-time power generation) on the day was 6,301 MW. It was only 35.62 per cent of the total installed capacity.
The country's overall electricity production just one month back on November 18 last was also below the half mark of the total installed capacity.
The power generation then stood at 8,656 MW and 6,986 MW during peak hours and off-peak hours respectively, according to the BPDB. Electricity generation on October 18 last stood at 9,842 MW and 8,103 MW during peak hours and off-peak hours respectively. The figures were significantly lower than the installed capacity of 17,043 MW then.
The figures on a day in September were 11,363 MW and 9,440 MW against the installed capacity of 17,043 MW.
The figures on the summer day on August 18 hovered at 10,204 MW and 8,916 MW during peak hours and off-peak hours respectively against the installed capacity of 16,102 MW.
The power generation hit its highs at 11,184 MW and 9,373 MW during peak and off-peak hours respectively on July 18 last against the then installed capacity of 15,953 MW.
The BPDB is the lone buyer of electricity from the power producers across the country. The state-entity then sells the electricity to the distribution companies that supply it to the end users.
According to the Power Division under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR), the country's installed power generation capacity was 4,942 MW during 2009.
The total power generation capacity including that from captive power plants owned by industry owners and renewable energy reached 20,343 MW, said officials.
Over the past one decade, the installed capacity of power generation increased significantly, as a significant number of power plants, mostly oil-fired ones, were set up during the period.
Contracts on most of these power plants were awarded on the basis of unsolicited offers under the Speedy Supply of Power and Energy (Special Provision) Act 2010, having a provision of immunity to those involved with the quick-fix remedies.
The government also allowed private entrepreneurs to go for duty-free import of furnace oil to run their power plants at a service charge of 9.0 per cent along with import costs as an incentive, said a senior official of the Power Division.
When contacted, energy adviser of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) Professor M Shamsul Alam said the BPDB had kept many power plants shut to avoid fiscal subvention.
The less the electricity generation would be, the less subsidy the BPDB would require from the government, he said.
Currently, the electricity generation cost at a gas-fired independent power producer (IPP) plant is below Tk 3.0 per unit (1 kilowatt-hour). The cost at a state-run gas-fired power plant is around Tk 3.0 per unit and at a gas-fired rental power plant around Tk 4.0 per unit.
The electricity generation cost at a government-owned furnace-oil fired power plant is Tk 13-16 per unit, at a rental or quick rental power plant Tk 9.5-13 per unit, and at an IPP plant Tk 9.0-14 per unit.
The electricity generation cost at a state-owned diesel-fired power plant is Tk 15-32 per unit and at a diesel-fired rental power plant at Tk 23-33 per unit.
Azizjst@yahoo.com