Addressing the issue of getting power urgently
Monday, 22 October 2007
Muzaffar Hossain
IF all goes well as planned, then adequate power production consistent with demand and even some surplus may be generated by the year 2015. But planning, establishment of power plants after such planning, acquiring lands for the purpose, mobilising funds, etc., are all time consuming processes and the question that had been asked frequently even in the expert forums was whether some means was available to immediately send some power to the national grid.
A semblance of sufficiency in power production is so much needed to maintain the tempo of current levels of production in the various economic sectors and to give power connections to new enterprises which are coming up. Indeed, the current year's growth projection of the economy at 7.0 per cent is crucially dependent on augmentation of power supply that cannot wait.
Several solutions were suggested in the face of the power crunch such as buying power from neighbouring countries. But the same hit snags when it could be known that they may not have surplus power to sell or investments in transmission infrastructures and considerable time would be required to get such power supplied across the national borders. Renting of movable power plants was considered. Analysing and exploring all possible ways of getting ready power for the grid, it was found out that the best prospect for getting ready power involved tapping the power generation potentials of the captive power producers (CPPs). The CPPs are the industries in different sectors which established their own power generation capacities over the years in the face of worsening power supply positions from the public sector.
The CPPs have a combined generation capacity of some 1300 mw and much of it remains unutilised. They are, therefore, in a position to generate a good amount of power after meeting their own needs and feed the same to the national grid. No new investments in machines, equipment or land would be needed for this purpose. If government only provides them with the reasonable incentive price to sell this power to it or decides to help in the decrease of the generation costs of this power by subsidising the price of gas to be used by the CPPs, then it should be easily possible to get as much as 500 mw from the CPPs within a month or two.
As it is, government is buying power from other independent power producers (IPPs) at a price which is substantially higher than what was offered to the CPPs. This is indeed a puzzle because government should be doing all it can in these power starved conditions to augment power supply. But the CPPs are getting demotivated from government policies which are discouraging them when the policies obviously need to be very conducive.
More concern raising is the news that tendering process has started for the setting up of some rental power plants to supply some 260 mw to the grid by February 2008. The rental plants would be set up and operated by foreign firms. The tariff of these barge or skid mounted plants are expected to be very high. In 1997, when the Power Development Board (PDB) hired the services of such plants, it had to incur staggering costs of Taka 13 billion a year. When rental power plants will not supply power readily like the CPPs, would supply only about half the amount of power compared to the CPPs and that too at significantly higher costs, in this situation the eagerness to go ahead with the rental power plants scheme is as insensible as it is bewildering. Some quarters have not unjustifiably asked whether interest groups are involved. All of these call for a quick investigation and a rethink in favour of the CPPs.
A study conducted by an official agency showed that nearly 800 mw of electricity can be saved by using energy saving bulbs and devices at a cost of only Taka 1.75 billion. Why not go all-out for this option also than the obviously wasteful one of rental power plants?
IF all goes well as planned, then adequate power production consistent with demand and even some surplus may be generated by the year 2015. But planning, establishment of power plants after such planning, acquiring lands for the purpose, mobilising funds, etc., are all time consuming processes and the question that had been asked frequently even in the expert forums was whether some means was available to immediately send some power to the national grid.
A semblance of sufficiency in power production is so much needed to maintain the tempo of current levels of production in the various economic sectors and to give power connections to new enterprises which are coming up. Indeed, the current year's growth projection of the economy at 7.0 per cent is crucially dependent on augmentation of power supply that cannot wait.
Several solutions were suggested in the face of the power crunch such as buying power from neighbouring countries. But the same hit snags when it could be known that they may not have surplus power to sell or investments in transmission infrastructures and considerable time would be required to get such power supplied across the national borders. Renting of movable power plants was considered. Analysing and exploring all possible ways of getting ready power for the grid, it was found out that the best prospect for getting ready power involved tapping the power generation potentials of the captive power producers (CPPs). The CPPs are the industries in different sectors which established their own power generation capacities over the years in the face of worsening power supply positions from the public sector.
The CPPs have a combined generation capacity of some 1300 mw and much of it remains unutilised. They are, therefore, in a position to generate a good amount of power after meeting their own needs and feed the same to the national grid. No new investments in machines, equipment or land would be needed for this purpose. If government only provides them with the reasonable incentive price to sell this power to it or decides to help in the decrease of the generation costs of this power by subsidising the price of gas to be used by the CPPs, then it should be easily possible to get as much as 500 mw from the CPPs within a month or two.
As it is, government is buying power from other independent power producers (IPPs) at a price which is substantially higher than what was offered to the CPPs. This is indeed a puzzle because government should be doing all it can in these power starved conditions to augment power supply. But the CPPs are getting demotivated from government policies which are discouraging them when the policies obviously need to be very conducive.
More concern raising is the news that tendering process has started for the setting up of some rental power plants to supply some 260 mw to the grid by February 2008. The rental plants would be set up and operated by foreign firms. The tariff of these barge or skid mounted plants are expected to be very high. In 1997, when the Power Development Board (PDB) hired the services of such plants, it had to incur staggering costs of Taka 13 billion a year. When rental power plants will not supply power readily like the CPPs, would supply only about half the amount of power compared to the CPPs and that too at significantly higher costs, in this situation the eagerness to go ahead with the rental power plants scheme is as insensible as it is bewildering. Some quarters have not unjustifiably asked whether interest groups are involved. All of these call for a quick investigation and a rethink in favour of the CPPs.
A study conducted by an official agency showed that nearly 800 mw of electricity can be saved by using energy saving bulbs and devices at a cost of only Taka 1.75 billion. Why not go all-out for this option also than the obviously wasteful one of rental power plants?