Govt drops plan to run Barapukuria power plant with imported coal
Thursday, 27 December 2007
M Azizur Rahman
The Power Division has backtracked from its decision to run the 250 megawatt (MW) Barapukuria coal-fired power plant with imported coal due to inadequate port infrastructure and higher import cost of the mineral.
On the contrary, the division has asked the China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMC), the contractor for production, management and maintenance of the Barapukuria coalmine, to expedite its rehabilitation work and reinitiate coal extraction by middle of next month, a senior Power Division official told the FE.
He said the 250 MW Barapukuria coal-fired power plant is now running with the reserved coal extracted from the Barapukuria coalmine.
Around 70,000 tonnes of coal have been kept reserved at the Barapukuria coalmine premises to run the adjacent Barapukuria power plant.
"We don't have adequate jetty facilities and the draft of the Mongla port channel is not suitable enough allow ships carrying coals," Power Division secretary M Fouzul Kabir Khan told the FE.
The country does not also have the necessary infrastructure to import bulk quantity of coal, he said.
Sources said the power division had earlier asked the Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB) to collect necessary information, including prices of coal in Indonesia and Australia, to run the Barapukuria coal-fired power plant.
The PDB collected the price quotations for importing coal from Indonesia, which stands at US$163.2 per tonne, including all relevant costs like freight, shipment, value added tax (VAT), customs duty, unloading charge and the rents for dumping area and port.
Without the relevant charges, a tonne of Indonesian coal costs between $ 34 and $ 40, a senior PDB official said.
Besides, the Indonesian coal is of inferior quality having high moisture content.
The loss per tonne of coal due to the high moisture content in the Indonesian coal would be around $27 per tonne, the PDB official said.
The PDB is yet to collect coal price from Australia.
The PDB earlier searched out the import cost for Columbian coal, which is $138 per tonne.
Currently, the Barapukuria power plant purchases coal from Barapukuria coal mine at $60 per tonne.
The Power Division has backtracked from its decision to run the 250 megawatt (MW) Barapukuria coal-fired power plant with imported coal due to inadequate port infrastructure and higher import cost of the mineral.
On the contrary, the division has asked the China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMC), the contractor for production, management and maintenance of the Barapukuria coalmine, to expedite its rehabilitation work and reinitiate coal extraction by middle of next month, a senior Power Division official told the FE.
He said the 250 MW Barapukuria coal-fired power plant is now running with the reserved coal extracted from the Barapukuria coalmine.
Around 70,000 tonnes of coal have been kept reserved at the Barapukuria coalmine premises to run the adjacent Barapukuria power plant.
"We don't have adequate jetty facilities and the draft of the Mongla port channel is not suitable enough allow ships carrying coals," Power Division secretary M Fouzul Kabir Khan told the FE.
The country does not also have the necessary infrastructure to import bulk quantity of coal, he said.
Sources said the power division had earlier asked the Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB) to collect necessary information, including prices of coal in Indonesia and Australia, to run the Barapukuria coal-fired power plant.
The PDB collected the price quotations for importing coal from Indonesia, which stands at US$163.2 per tonne, including all relevant costs like freight, shipment, value added tax (VAT), customs duty, unloading charge and the rents for dumping area and port.
Without the relevant charges, a tonne of Indonesian coal costs between $ 34 and $ 40, a senior PDB official said.
Besides, the Indonesian coal is of inferior quality having high moisture content.
The loss per tonne of coal due to the high moisture content in the Indonesian coal would be around $27 per tonne, the PDB official said.
The PDB is yet to collect coal price from Australia.
The PDB earlier searched out the import cost for Columbian coal, which is $138 per tonne.
Currently, the Barapukuria power plant purchases coal from Barapukuria coal mine at $60 per tonne.