Braving much criticism, the government has decided to renew the contracts of five private-run ‘rental’ power plants for five years.The additional cabinet secretary Nurul Karim said the Cabinet Committee on Purchases has cleared the proposal to renew the contracts of these five’ rental’ power plants.
The five plants whose contracts will now be renewed are Desh Energy’s 100 MW plant, Energies Power Corporation’s 55 MW plant, Precision Energy’s 55 MW plant, Quantum Power System’s 110 MW plant and RZ Power’s 50 MW plant.
Nurul Karim said the rate for purchase of electricity have also been reviewed and fixed for these rental power plants.
All of them will get lesser rates than before.
* Desh Energy will now be paid TK 19.53 against the previous rate of TK 22 per unit
* Energies Power Corp will be paid Tk 15.83 against the previous rate of Tk 18 per unit
* Precision will be paid Tk 2.91 against the previous TK 3.71 per unit
* Quantum will be paid TK 16 against the previous TK 18 per unit
* RZ will be paid TK 19.55 against the previous TK 22 per unit.
The Power Development Board (PDB) has however decided to fine Desh Energy, Quantum Power Systems and RZ Power for failing to start their plants within the agreed schedule.
Desh Energy’s 100 Mw plant owned by garment tycoon Anisul Huq, has faced allegations of delay in project implementation, frequent plant shutdowns and high fuel consumption.
But Desh Energy managed to get a stay order from court on the $ 15 million fines imposed on it by the PDB.
Energies Power Corp, owned by former foreign minister and Jatiyo Party leader Anisul Islam Mahmud, has also faced similar allegations.
The last caretaker government started encouraging purchase of power from private-run ‘rental’ power plants.
The 32 such plants in Bangladesh now produce 2,169 MW of power – and PDB statistics indicate one-third of power consumed in Bangladesh is now purchased from these plants.
But almost two-third of the expenditure incurred for purchase of power is guzzled up by these ‘rental’ plants.
That’s because power purchased from them cost several times more.
Analysts blame these rental power plants for a huge rise in government subsidies, which was TK 60 billion in 2011-12, and a higher burden on consumers. – bdnews24.com
