Technical glitches in power plants have emerged as the key bottleneck for augmenting electricity generation, industry insiders said. These are eating up government's achievements in commissioning of new power plants as around 30 per cent of the country's total electricity generation capacity of about 4300 megawatts (mw) remained stuck due to technical problems, they said. The power ministry said electricity generation from 24 new power plants under the incumbent Awami League government stood at 1,403 megawatts (mw) until March 2011. But hampering of electricity generation due to technical glitches only stood at around 1,200 mw as on Sunday. Unless the government goes for installing several high-cost liquid fuel-based rental and quick-rental power plants the overall electricity generation will remain the worst, said a power ministry official. The ministry has long blamed lack of gas for the acute electricity crisis in the country. Recent forced-closure of four gas-guzzling fertiliser factories have, however, helped functioning of several gas-based power plants raising the country's overall electricity output to around 4,300 megawatts (mw) from 4,000 mw. Currently electricity generation of only 227 mw is being affected due to gas crisis. Power plants are now getting an additional gas supply of around 200 million cubic feet daily (mmcfd) after closure of Ashuganj Fertiliser Company Ltd (AFCL), Jamuna Fertiliser Company Ltd (JFCL), Chittagong Urea Fertliser Ltd (CUFL) and Karnaphuli Fertiliser Company Ltd (KAFCO) fertiliser factories. A senior Power Development Board (PDB) official said repeated problems, mishaps and maintenance have forced shutdown of many of power plants. Most of the country's power plants are age-old and they already passed their life span, said the official. Among the age-old power plants the country has five power plants aged over 40 years, 11 plants within 31 to 40 years, 23 plants within 21 to 30 years and 19 plants within 11 to 20 years. The maximum acceptable lifetime of any power plant is 20 years, he said. These power plants tripped too often due to weak electricity generation capacity, he said. Government spends billions of Taka for overhaul and maintenance of the aged power plants, said the official. Energy experts, however, said that the government should replace the age-old inefficient power plants instead of overhauling and maintenance, which they said make nothing but drainage of valuable money. A vicious circle in the power ministry always protests against replacement of the age-old power plants, it was alleged. This circle embezzles large amounts of public money in the name of overhauling of aged power plants every year, officials alleged. "Replacement of age-old and inefficient power plants is the ultimate solution to ensure augmented electricity generation," Professor M Tamim, a teacher of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, said. He said the costs of overhauling the aged plants are almost similar to the costs of replacing them. Former director general of Power Cell, BD Rahmatulklah, also recommended replacement of the age-old inefficient power plants in place of their overhauling. Replacing these power plants would be easy as the infrastructure like transmission network and evacuation of electricity are already there, he said. "Production efficiency of a plant also depends on its age. A young plant can operate at its full capacity for months together without any disruption," he said. Replacing the aged power plants would also help reduce at least 20 per cent energy consumption, he said. Among the aged plants Ashuganj and Ghorasal plants are the worst in operation. Electricity generations in Khulna, Rauzan, Tongi, Shahjibazar, Shikalbaha and Baghabari plants are also disrupted very frequently due to technical problems, said officials.
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