Bangladesh Small and Captive Power Producers' Association (BSCPPA) opposed the government move to raise natural gas tariff by 102 per cent for the captive power plants-which, if done, would have cascading price impacts on electricity consumers.
Speaking at a press conference at the DRU Auditorium Sunday, the BSCPPA leaders claimed that their industries would be affected badly and thousands of workers lose jobs if the rate was really raised.
All state-owned gas transmission and distribution companies have already submitted proposals separately to Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) for gas-tariff hikes, including that of captive power producers.
"The captive power plants generate around 1500 megawatts (MW) - 2,000 MW of electricity altogether, easing the load from the national power grid," BSCPPA President Md Mohsin said.
He told the press conference that the captive power producers also supply around 30MW-35MW electricity to the national power grid.
He made a point that the government is purchasing electricity at a much lower rate--at Tk 2.37 per unit (1 kilowatt-hour)--from the captive power plants compared to the other conventional sources like Independent Power Producers (IPP), Small Power Producers (SPP) and state-run power plants.
"We have built up our small power plants to meet electricity demands of our own, considering government's limited capacity of generating electricity," said the BSCPPA president.
"But the government is now running after us," he alleged.
The BSCPPA also claimed that the average efficiency level of their captive power plants is 48 per cent, which they said is higher than that of some state-owned power plants.
"We are upgrading our plants time to time to reduce natural gas consumption," the BSCPPA leaders said about the belt-tightening measure they have adopted.
BSCPPA Senior Vice President and Chairman of Meghna Group Mostafa Kamal, Chairman of Bangladesh Auto-re Rolling and Still Mills Association Shaikh Masadul Alam Masud, President of Bangladesh Steel Mill Owners Association Shiekh Fazlur Rahman Bakul, and other BSCPPA members, including Golam Rahman, Humayun Kabir, also spoke on the occasion.
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