Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) has spent more than 71 thousand crore (Tk 719,899,994,490) for purchasing power from rental-quick rental, IPP-SIPPs and importing power from India in the last two years.
According to the BPDBs accounts book, the per unit cost of electricity from the IPPs and SIPPs was Tk 11.55 in 21-22 fiscal year whereas it paid Tk 14.62 in the 22-23 fiscal year for per unit electricity.
However, the per unit average cost of electricity from the Rental and Quick Rental power plants was Tk 9.80 which is Tk 12.53 in the 22-23 fiscal year.
"The cost of per unit electricity from India (import) was Tk 6.11 for in the 21-22 fiscal years, which stands at Tk 8.77 in the 22-23 fiscal year," a senior official of BPDB said.
However, the average power purchase cost from its own companies, BPDB has paid Tk 7.6 for per unit for the fiscal year 22-23. It said that BPDB has spent Tk 12.18 for purchasing power for Barisal Electric Power, Tk 14.02 for importing power from Adanis Godda Plant, Tk 14.12 for Rampal Power Plant and Tk 16.02 for Payra Power Plant.
From the IPPS it purchased a Tk 49,213 crore 31 lakh 47 thousand 385 for the 21-22 fiscal year and Tk 59,022 crore 74 lakh 4 thousand 522 for the year of 22-23 for electricity.
"We spent Tk 2,787 crore 42 lakh 97 thousand 72 for purchasing electricity from the rental and quick rentals in the fiscal year of 21-22 and Tk 3,743 crore 84 lakh 74 thousand 333 in 22-23 fiscal year," the official said from the financial book.
However, we spend Tk 4,673 crore 20 lakh 6 thousand 500 for importing power from India for the fiscal year of 21-22 and Tk 9,223 crore 41 lakh 15 thousand 635 for the 22-23 fiscal year, he added.
Bangladesh imports 2656 MW of electricity from India, the total production capacity of rental and quick rental power project is around 1200 MW and BPDB gets around 6000 MW from the IPP and SIPPs.
As per the recent data, for the fiscal year 2022-23, Adani Powers 1,600 MW Godda Plant has emerged as the lowest cost electricity producer versus the other similar thermal power plants like Payra, Rampal and Barisal Electric Power.
According to the PDB report, Adanis power generation cost per unit was 10 paisa less than Rampals in the fiscal year 2022-23 and a whooping BDT 5 less than that of Barisal Electric Power, which produced the most expensive power among the four coal-based plants. The Payra plants power cost was BDT 2 more expensive than Godda.
On March 8 last year, the Godda power station began trial power supply to Bangladesh. By April 6, the plant began providing commercial power. Meanwhile, one unit of the Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company (BIFPCL) in Rampal began supplying electricity from December 2022. The Payra power plant by Bangladesh-China Power Company Limited (BCPCL) has been producing electricity regularly since May 2020. Additionally, Barisal Electric Power Limiteds plant started generating power on January 1 last year.
"Adanis cost included fuel cost of Tk 1,470 crore 29 lakh, a capacity charge of Tk 632 crore 57 lakh, and an operation and maintenance (O&M) cost of Tk 138 crore 56 lakh. The total production cost stands at Tk 2,241 crore 41 lakh. On average, each unit of electricity costs Tk 14 and two paisa to produce," it said.
On the other hand, the Payra Power Plant has a production capacity of 1,320 megawatts. The average cost of generating per unit electricity at the Payra Power Plant stands at Tk 16 and two paisa. Delving deeper, the average capacity charge amounts to Tk four and 68 paisa, while the average fuel cost is Tk 11 and 34 paisa, the data shows.
The production capacity of Rampal power plant is 1,320 megawatts. Even if one unit was operational, it ran only 34 percent of the time due to coal shortage.
The average production cost is Tk 14 and 12 paisa. Among them, the average capacity charge is Tk three and 18 paisa and the average fuel cost is Tk 10 and 94 paisa.
The accounts book has said the production capacity of Barisal Electric Power is 307 megawatts. Only 45 percent of its capacity was utilized due to coal shortage. On average, the production cost per unit of electricity is Tk 19 and 01 paisa. Breaking it down, the average capacity charge is Tk six and 63 paisa, the average fuel cost is Tk 12 and 18 paisa, and the average O&M cost is Tk 20 paisa.
