Rooppur N-power plant operation to be delayed further

The operation of Rooppur nuclear power plant is likely to be delayed further due to different causes including lack of evacuation system or incomplete transmission line.

The original project proposal said unit-1 would be in operation on December 23, 2022 and the plant may start electricity supply by the end of 2024.

According to the official of the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh will set up four lines, there was a plan to complete the line by October, 2024  but now it sees that the line across the Padma river saw 40 percent progress, however, the part over the Jamuna river will be done when it is uncertain.

"We have already started to pay the interest of the loan taken from Russian Federation, there are also different causes of delaying the project, really I don't know what to say but it's an elephant project for us�and increasing the cost every day due to different causes," former energy adviser Dr M Tamim  said.

Actually we don't know when it will come into operation fully, he added.

The PGCB is building six lines with a combined length of 669km.

The Rooppur project, costing $12.65 billion was signed in 2016, of which 90 per cent ($11.38 billion) funded by Russia. 

In addition, Bangladesh has taken a loan of $491 million from Russia for the project's feasibility study, according to the terms, the loan was expected to be fully disbursed by December 2024. However, as of 14 August, 2024 Russia had released $7.33 billion to Bangladesh in 25 instalments. 

Meanwhile, Bangladesh made interest payments by this time, now it reached around billion dollars in dues from overdue interest, commitment fees, and late fines. 

The repayment of the principal amount will begin in 2027. The repayment of the principal amount will commence from March 15, 2027. However, the interim government recently proposed extending it to March 15, 2029.

"We have completed necessary tasks of Unit-1 of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), we are ready to start its operation from next year," Andrey Petrov, First Deputy Director General for Nuclear Energy of State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom, and President of ASE said in a statement in December 2024.

Mentioning the process step by step, the Rosatom statement has said, earlier in September dummy fuel assemblies were loaded into the reactor pressure vessel of unit-1 paving the way for the loading of real nuclear fuel assemblies. During the same month, diesel generators underwent cold runs. 

In October the reactor assembly process was completed and got prepared for the key test to ensure the efficient operation of the unit. In November the first ignition of the start-up standby boiler room took place to supply technological steam.  

Both the units have received automated radiation monitoring systems (ARMS), developed especially for the Rooppur project to meet its specific requirements, it reads.