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Although the oil-fired power plants are
usually run during the high demand of electricity, the private furnace
oil-plants have refrained from complying with the government's guidelines for
the last 27 months.
This has led to frequent load shedding across the
country. Still, the plants have not faced any penalties as per rules. Instead,
they are receiving capacity charges regularly despite being out of production
for two and a half years.
According to contracts, a power plant is
permitted to remain shut for repairs and maintenance for 10 per cent time of
the year. It means a 100 megawatt plant may remain shut for up to 836 hours or
nearly 36.5 days in a year with regular capacity charges..
If the closure period exceeds the maximum
threshold, a plant has to face fines. But the Bangladesh Power Development
Board (BPDB) is not taking the issue into its account, though the plants have
been shut for over two and a half years.
The BPDB officials said a proper calculation
would save at least 40 per cent of the cost that the board spent on capacity
charge annually. According to them, the private plants were refusing to run due
to outstanding bills.
In the face of their demand, the BPDB has been
paying bills since July 2022 without adjusting for the shutdown periods. Its
former chairman, Mahbubur Rahman, approved the decision without necessary
approval from the power division.
The government floated bonds to pay the dues,
and the amount has now come down significantly. However, the private oil-run
plants are still benefiting from the practice.
Two BPDB officials said the board cannot make
such decisions without approval from the power division. It is illegal. The
former chairman had negotiations with private sector power plant owners, and he
facilitated their benefits.
Regarding the allegation, Mahbubur Rahman told
Prothom Alo that the BPDB was struggling to pay outstanding bills. This is why
outage payments were suspended, rather than cancellation. Otherwise, they would
not have been able to run the plants.
He claimed the decision was made on the advice
of the power division and the updates were communicated to them later.
However, he did not clarify whether the BPDB
is allowed to suspend contract terms without written approval from the power
division.
According to the BPDB sources, the plants
would not generate electricity despite official directions. It caused severe
load shedding from July 2022.
Rezaul Karim, current chairman of the BPDB,
said they are working to resolve these issues gradually and restore outage
payments by settling the outstanding bills.
Currently, there are 40 furnace oil-fired
private power plants operating in the country, with a combined capacity of
slightly over 4,100 MW. According to BPDB sources, the annual capacity charge
for these plants exceeds $590 million (over Tk 70 billion). The PDB could save
over Tk 28 billion annually had the shutdown period been adjusted.
An entrepreneur involved with an oil-fired
power plant said while bills were supposed to be paid within 45 days, there
were delays of 140 to 150 days, disrupting operations.
Blaming the BPDB for the situation, the
entrepreneur said there is scope to calculate plant outages. They will supply
the required electricity if bills are paid regularly.
According to insiders, under the existing
agreements, all power plants receive a capacity charge, funded by the
government. On the flip side, there are penalties for plants that fail to meet
BPDB's electricity demands.
In the fiscal year 2022-23, the BPDB spent
over Tk 25 billion on capacity charge, and it is projected to cross Tk 40
billion in the next fiscal year.
Shamsul Alam, energy adviser of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), alleged power plants deliberately stopped power production, inflicted sufferings on the people, but received capacity charges.
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