Anisul Islam Noor :
Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) is set to purchase electricity from two Indian private power plants under special provisions that indemnifies officials concerned against prosecution for making such decisions.
As per the decision, BPDB will have to pay approximately US$1.76 billion extra for awarding the contracts under the Speedy Supply of Power and Energy Act 2010, official sources said. Adani Power (Jharkhand) Ltd will realize 0.4023 US cent extra against each unit of electricity to be supplied from its power plant as capacity charge. It means Adani will earn additional US$1.18 billion extra in the 25 years’ capacity charge that is the highest in Bangladesh.
BPDB has awarded two contracts without competitive bidding to Adani Power (Jharkhand) Ltd for purchasing electricity from a 1,600MW coal-fired power plant and Reliance Bangladesh LNG & Power Ltd for purchasing electricity from a 750MW gas-fired power plant, the officials said.
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said, “We have finalised the two contracts and they are ready for seeking approval from the cabinet committee on the government purchase.”
In a move to award the contracts to the two companies without tender, the BPDB signed two memorandums with the companies on June 6, 2015, the day Indian prime minister Narendra Modi arrived in Dhaka on a two-day visit, said the officials.
No Indian firm has so far won a competitive bidding for supplying electricity in Bangladesh, they added.
Energy adviser to the Consumers Association of Bangladesh M Shamsul Alam, also an electrical engineer, said that the contracts had no technical basis in the sense that the prices of electricity were settled bypassing tenders.
‘The government will not bear any liability of the expensive electricity as the extra charge will be realised from the consumers,’ he explained, observing that the decision was completely anti-people and it curbed consumers’ rights.
Adani would set up its power plant in Jharkhand in India to export electricity to Bangladesh for 25 years while Reliance would set up its power plant at Meghnaghat in Narayanganj to sell electricity to the power board for 20 years, they said.
According to the draft contract, Adani would receive 3.8 US cents in capacity charge against each kilowatt-hour of electricity to be generated from its 1,600MW power plant.
But, the power board would pay a local private company less than 3.4 US cents in capacity charge against each unit of electricity supplied from the company’s coal-fired power plant to be set up in Chittagong, they said, adding that the contract was awarded through competitive bidding.
During the final negotiations, held on March 15 this year, Adani representatives, however, had argued that there were additional costs involved in the tariff at which it would sell the produce to the power board, according to a report prepared by a committee for processing the proposal of power import from the Adani’s plant.
Similarly, Reliance would receive 2.05 US cents in capacity charge against each kilowatt-hour or unit of electricity to be generated from its 750MW power plant, according to the draft contract.
But, the power board pays a local private company 1.52 US cents in capacity charge against each unit of electricity supplied from the company’s 450MW combined cycle gas-fired power plant, said the officials.
The Reliance would realise 0.52 US cent extra against each unit of electricity to be supplied from its power plant, which means, the higher capacity charge would help the company earn a total of $581 million extra revenue in the 20 years’ contract period.
