The shortfall in gas supply has led Electricity Generation Company of Bangladesh to shut its Siddhirganj and Haripur power plants since mid-November.
The power generation company had 622 megawatt production capacity from the two plants.
Of the two, one was gas-fired power plant namely 210mw Siddhirganj Peaking Power Plant and another 412mw Haripur Combined-Cycle Power Plant, the largest of its kind in public sector.
“In the wake of gas shortage, two of our power plants have been shut. We requisitioned gas supply from the Titas Gas Company, but it was non-compliant with our demand,” Electricity Generation Company of Bangladesh (EGCB) Managing Director Mostafa Kamal told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
If this situation prevailed, it would be tough to keep the company alive, he added.
“Electricity generation is shut for a month and we are yet to receive any assurance as to when we will be able to run the company again,” Mostafa Kamal said.
He urged the government to ensure proper gas supply to the plant for a full-fledged operation.
“The company has set up these power plants with financial support from Asian Development Bank and Japan International Cooperation Agency. If these plants remain shut, we will not be able to repay the loan,” he claimed.
The Siddhirganj and Haripur power plants started their commercial operations respectively on February 5, 2012 and the first week of November this year.
The Siddhirganj power plant would require 40mmcfd gas to operate in full capacity while the production cost of per unit electricity would be Tk1.87.
“We will forward another letter to Titas for gas today [Sunday]. The machines will lose efficiency for the lack of gas,” Md Atiar Raman, general manager and plant in-charge of 210mw Siddhirganj Peaking Power Plant told the Dhaka Tribune.
The 412mw Haripur Power Plant would require 64mmcfd gas to operate in full capacity while the production cost of per unit electricity would be Tk1.7154.
“Though we started the plant on November, it was not in full production capacity. Gas crisis hit the plant, thus leading to its shutdown,” said Md Nazmul Alam, deputy general manager and plant in-charge.
Md Nowshad Islam, acting managing director of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited, said: “We are not getting enough gas from Petrobangla to supply it to the EGCB.”
Titas has around 1,550,000 residential clients and distributes around 1,450 million cubic feet of gas per day against a demand of 2,000, officials said.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
