The government has taken an initiative to reduce the number of oil-based power plants. To this end, tenure of rental and quick rental power plants will no longer be extended while oil-based old power plants will be shut down in phases, a Power Division official said.
According to Power Division, the government has achieved tremendous success in the power sector. Bangladesh has now transformed from a power-shortage country to a power-surplus one. Now the government’s focus is supply of uninterrupted electricity along with its affordable price.
The generation cost of oil-based power plants is also high. Besides, it has negative impact on environment. That’s why the Power Division is going to shut down oil-based power plants in the country.
An official of the Power Division said, “Around 3000MW oil-based power plants will be shut down within next year. Most of these are rental and quick rental poer plants. However, there will be a few gas-fired power plants, which will generate electricity in case of emergency. However, no capacity payment or plant rent will be given. When it will generate electricity then the power producer will get payment, otherwise not.”
Md Nurul Alam, Additional Secretary (planning) of Power Division told Bangladesh Post, “Now we want to reduce dependency on the oil-fired power plants in phases. However, it is not possible to shut down all the oil-based power plants right now. Because, our day-night, winter-summer electricity demand is quite different.
Moreover, base load power plants or mega power plants cannot be turned on or off instantly. This takes a lot of time. On the other hand, small oil or gas-based power plants can be turned on and off very quickly. So, some oil-based picking power plants need to be kept for emergencies and necessary times on condition with no electricity, no payment.
It will save power generation cost along with meeting the necessary demand. A decision will be taken to shut down the oil-based power plants considering the needs for stability, longevity, transmission and distribution system.”
Several officials from the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources said, the decision to reduce oil-based power generation has already been taken. The Prime Minister's Office PMO) has also given consent in this regard. Now a roadmap will be made which power will be closed. He said the use of gas, LNG and renewable energy will be increased by reducing the use of oil.
According to current projection, the highest electricity demand of the country will be around 30,000MW in 2030. However, currently the country’s power generation capacity is around 21,000MW. Besides, more 16500MW electricity will be added to national grid by 2026, which are now under generation at different stages. Along with this, it also may start power generation from some new power plants. That means, the total power generation capacity will be more than 40,000MW, which will meet the electricity demand.
Currently, there are 77 oil-based power plants with 7280MW of generation capacity, which is around 35 percent of the total electricity generation. But no more than 15 percent of oil-based power plants should exist. Economists and power researchers are of the opinion that this creates huge financial liability.
According to Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), 39 power plants with a total generation capacity 16479MW of electricity (expected) are now under construction, which will start generation within 2026. Of these, 1289MW generation is gas based, 1598MW is LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) based, 7619MW coal-fired, 547MW HFO, 162MW diesel based and another 504MW electricity will be generated from renewable energy. Besides, some dual fuel (gas/oil/LNG) power plants with 2358MW of electricity in under construction at different stages.
Basically, in these types of power plants -- gas or LNG -- will be first priority for generation in ability of supply. On the other hand, 2400 MW of electricity will be added to the national grid from nuclear energy by 2024.
Moreover, 20 power plants are in contract signing process and their total generation capacity is 2961MW, which also will come into operation by 2026. Of these, 50MW plant is gas-based, around 625MW is renewable energy based, 1440MW dual fuel (gas/LNG) based, and 1240MW power plant is coal-fired.
Six power plants having a total power generating capacity of 650MW are at tender invitation and evaluation stages. Of these, 400MW plant is gas and 250MW is renewable energy based. It is expected that the power plants will start their operations by 2023. Side by side, the government has also planned to import more 500MW of electrify from India by 2026.
Besides, 33 power plants are at planning stage and their total generation capacity is 15019MW, that may start generation by 2030. Most of these power plants are gas, LNG and renewable energy based.