Indifference par excellence
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
Shamsul Huq Zahid
A drowning man/woman clutches whatever comes in his/her way just to remain afloat. But that seems to be not true in the case of the power ministry or the agencies under its control.
The recent government decision to shut down three urea fertilizer factories to divert gas to a number of idle power plants and summoning of the power secretary and heads of some relevant agencies by the Prime Minister immediately after her return from Saudi Kingdom do well demonstrate the precarious nature of the country's power situation.
Under the circumstances, the power ministry is supposed to welcome anyone willing to sell even a single megawatt (MW) of power to it. But, according to a report published in the FE last Monday, the Power Development Board (PDB) has cold shouldered a good number of captive power producers (CPPs) who have offered to sell 200 MW of their surplus power to either PDB or any other state power distribution company.
The companies that offered to sell power to the government are not power entities. Actually, these are large private sector companies and engaged in manufacturing and other businesses. In the absence of reliable power supply in the country, they have set up their own captive power plants having generation capacity not exceeding 30 MW.
The chief executive of a private sector producer of steel goods while talking to the FE has expressed his frustration at the lack of response from the PDB to his proposal to sell 12MW of power.
But why should the PDB or other relevant public sector organizations be apathetic to the proposals from the CPPs when the people across the country have been experiencing the worst power situation in these hot summer days? Is it the per unit price of electricity that the intending sellers have asked for? Or is it the technical problem of taking the power from these producers to the national grid?
The FE story has explained answers to these two pertinent questions. Under the prevailing power situation, the government, which has found it prudent to shut down fertilizer factories and suffer financial loss just to mitigate the power crisis to some extent, should be ready to buy power at a rate higher than the usual one. But the CPPs, surprisingly, have offered to the PDB the rates that are cheaper than those of the independent power producers (IPPs) and the rental power plants (RPPs). The PDB pays Tk. 2.48 to IPPs and Tk. 3.0 to RPPs for per unit of electricity.
A number of CPPs, reportedly, have expressed their readiness to set up transmission lines at their own cost to help the PDB to carry their power to the national grid. Yet the PDB is not convinced. Why?
The PDB chairman cited two major reasons for not being enthusiastic about the CPP offers. One is the time factor and the other relates to bureaucratic complexities.
He said the period during which the CPPs are willing to make available their surplus power does not match with their need. He, however, did not elaborate. His second reason, the bureaucratic complexities-his office, of course, an integral part of the bureaucratic cobweb, involved in getting approval for purchasing power from private companies, however, holds true.
But how can the selling time be a factor when the power crisis is there day in, day out? Supply of power should not have been a problem during off-peak hours in case of a moderate level of power shortage. But the crisis is so deep that the people are not getting any respite from the hourly load-shedding even during the dead hours of night.
However, one state-run power distribution agency, the Rural Electrification Board (REB), is purchasing 31MW of power from the CPPs at a rate of Tk. 2.21 for per unit. If REB can do it, it should not be a problem for the PDB and other power distribution companies.
Since selling power is not the business of the owners of the CPPs, they are not supposed to lobby with the PDB or the power division to take their surplus power to the national greed. The companies, which have volunteered to sell their surplus power to the state entities to help the latter mitigate power crisis, had installed power plants to meet their own needs, not with the objective of selling power to anybody. Infact, the power division officials should have made approaches to the CPPs having surplus power.
Installation of a 200 MW power plant takes a lot of time and money. It is most unlikely that the government will be able to set up large power plants within next couple of years. So, the government should look into the possibility of buying the power that the CPPs are offering within the shortest possible time.
zahidfe@yahoo.com
A drowning man/woman clutches whatever comes in his/her way just to remain afloat. But that seems to be not true in the case of the power ministry or the agencies under its control.
The recent government decision to shut down three urea fertilizer factories to divert gas to a number of idle power plants and summoning of the power secretary and heads of some relevant agencies by the Prime Minister immediately after her return from Saudi Kingdom do well demonstrate the precarious nature of the country's power situation.
Under the circumstances, the power ministry is supposed to welcome anyone willing to sell even a single megawatt (MW) of power to it. But, according to a report published in the FE last Monday, the Power Development Board (PDB) has cold shouldered a good number of captive power producers (CPPs) who have offered to sell 200 MW of their surplus power to either PDB or any other state power distribution company.
The companies that offered to sell power to the government are not power entities. Actually, these are large private sector companies and engaged in manufacturing and other businesses. In the absence of reliable power supply in the country, they have set up their own captive power plants having generation capacity not exceeding 30 MW.
The chief executive of a private sector producer of steel goods while talking to the FE has expressed his frustration at the lack of response from the PDB to his proposal to sell 12MW of power.
But why should the PDB or other relevant public sector organizations be apathetic to the proposals from the CPPs when the people across the country have been experiencing the worst power situation in these hot summer days? Is it the per unit price of electricity that the intending sellers have asked for? Or is it the technical problem of taking the power from these producers to the national grid?
The FE story has explained answers to these two pertinent questions. Under the prevailing power situation, the government, which has found it prudent to shut down fertilizer factories and suffer financial loss just to mitigate the power crisis to some extent, should be ready to buy power at a rate higher than the usual one. But the CPPs, surprisingly, have offered to the PDB the rates that are cheaper than those of the independent power producers (IPPs) and the rental power plants (RPPs). The PDB pays Tk. 2.48 to IPPs and Tk. 3.0 to RPPs for per unit of electricity.
A number of CPPs, reportedly, have expressed their readiness to set up transmission lines at their own cost to help the PDB to carry their power to the national grid. Yet the PDB is not convinced. Why?
The PDB chairman cited two major reasons for not being enthusiastic about the CPP offers. One is the time factor and the other relates to bureaucratic complexities.
He said the period during which the CPPs are willing to make available their surplus power does not match with their need. He, however, did not elaborate. His second reason, the bureaucratic complexities-his office, of course, an integral part of the bureaucratic cobweb, involved in getting approval for purchasing power from private companies, however, holds true.
But how can the selling time be a factor when the power crisis is there day in, day out? Supply of power should not have been a problem during off-peak hours in case of a moderate level of power shortage. But the crisis is so deep that the people are not getting any respite from the hourly load-shedding even during the dead hours of night.
However, one state-run power distribution agency, the Rural Electrification Board (REB), is purchasing 31MW of power from the CPPs at a rate of Tk. 2.21 for per unit. If REB can do it, it should not be a problem for the PDB and other power distribution companies.
Since selling power is not the business of the owners of the CPPs, they are not supposed to lobby with the PDB or the power division to take their surplus power to the national greed. The companies, which have volunteered to sell their surplus power to the state entities to help the latter mitigate power crisis, had installed power plants to meet their own needs, not with the objective of selling power to anybody. Infact, the power division officials should have made approaches to the CPPs having surplus power.
Installation of a 200 MW power plant takes a lot of time and money. It is most unlikely that the government will be able to set up large power plants within next couple of years. So, the government should look into the possibility of buying the power that the CPPs are offering within the shortest possible time.
zahidfe@yahoo.com