The third unit that was producing 140MW electricity may be stopped anytime, said Engineer Mahbubur Rahman, the plant supervisor.
The Barapukuria coalmine authorities failed to supply coal required to feed the unit, leading to the crisis, he said.
Meanwhile, actions have been taken against five officials associated with the power plant over the disappearance of 140,000 tonnes of coal from the yard, he said.
The plant required about 5,200 tonnes of coal per day to generate 525MW of electricity.
Power generation at two units – 125MW each — of the plant has already stopped due to the coal crisis.
Currently, Barapukuria coalmine authorities are now supplying 600 tonnes to 700 tonnes of coal. “But this is not enough to run the third unit,” Rahman said.
The plant’s third unit with 275MW capacity needs about 3,000 tonnes of coal per day to produce electricity, he said.
On the sudden shortage of coal, he said, “The coalmine authorities in a meeting on Jun 20 estimated a reserve of 180,000 tonnes of coal in the yard. We also planned accordingly. In the following month, they started reducing coal supply.”
Coal extraction has remained suspended since Jun 16 due to machinery transfer, but mining will resume at the end of August, according to coalmine authorities.
The authorities informed the Power Development Board or PDB four or five days ago that they would not be able to supply the coal as per requirement.
“Coal reserves in the yard have almost depleted,” Rahman said.
The yard was expected to have about 150,000 tonnes of coal in reserve, but there is only 4,000 tonnes to 5,000 tonnes as of Saturday, said an official requesting not to be named.
“There is no trace of about 104,000 tonnes of coal.”
On Thursday, Nur-Uz Zaman Chowdhury, general manager (operations), and Khaledul Islam, deputy general manager (store), were suspended for their alleged links to the disappearance of coal from the yard.
Habib Uddin Ahmed, managing director of Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Ltd or BCMCL, has been attached to Petrobangla, and Abul Kashem Prodhania, general manager and the company secretary, has been transferred to Pashchimanchal Gas Company Ltd in Sirajganj.
Petrobangla Director Ayub Khan has been appointed the managing director of BCMCL.
Meanwhile, a three-member committee, headed by Petrobangla Director Kamruzzaman, was formed on Friday to investigate the incident.
Petrobangla Chairman Abul Mansur Md Faizullah could not be reached for comment.