The electricity supply in the country's northern region is likely to suffer a major setback from today (Monday), said officials.
It is going to happen, as all the three units of the Barapukuria coal-fired power plant, having the total capacity of 525 megawatts (MW), will face forced closure due to lack of coal supply, they added.
"Only around 3,000 tonnes of coal are now stockpiled in the storage yard of the state-run Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Ltd (BCMCL)," a senior official told the FE on Sunday.
This coal can be used to run only one 275-MW capacity unit of the power plant for a single day, he added.
As of July 21, only one unit of the Barapukuria power plant was operational, which generated around 130 MW of electricity, according to statistics of the state-run Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB).
The 'vanishing' of around 142,000 tonnes of coal from the BCMCL's storage yard has created the uncertainty in operation of the Barapukuria coal-fired power plant.
The BCMCL could detect the anomalies in coal stock only a few days back, when it started assessing the overall stock in the yard.
A three-member committee, headed by Petrobangla's director for operations and mines Md Kamruzzaman, has been assigned to investigate the issue, and submit a report to the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR).
"Electricity supply of around 500 MW will be hampered in the northern region due to this incident," state minister for MPEMR Nasrul Hamid told newsmen on Sunday.
Gas supply to the gas-fired power plants in Sirajganj will be increased to ease the electricity supply shortfall there, he noted.
The probe committee has been asked to submit its report within seven days, Mr Hamid added.
"We've started our investigation into the incident," said Mr Kamruzzaman, the head of the inquiry committee.
Detailed information over the issue could be unearthed after the investigation is over, he added.
Five officials of the BCMCL, including its managing director and a general manager, have already been withdrawn and suspended following the unfolding coal scam.
Officials said the BCMCL storage yard should have a stock of around 142,000 tonnes of coal now according to its extraction and sales report. The existing market price of coal is Tk 16,000 a tonne. That puts the cost of missing coal at Tk 2.27 billion.
Coal production of the BCMCL has remained suspended for more than a month, as its equipment and machinery are being shifted from one coalface underground to another, they also said.
Coal extraction from the new phase is expected to start from mid-September, meaning that the country will have no electricity generation from coal until then, they added.
The Barapukuria plant has two 125-MW capacity old units and one 275-MW capacity new unit.
Some 5,000 tonnes of coal are required daily to run the Barapukuria plant to generate around 525 MW of electricity.
The newly-built third unit requires around 3,000 tonnes of coal per day to generate around 275-MW of electricity.
The BPDB purchases coal at US$ 130 per tonne from the BCMCL to generate electricity.
The country's overall electricity generation is currently hovering around 10,500 MW.
The government has a target to generate around 24,000 MW of electricity by 2021.
Azizjst@yahoo.com