Bangladesh
Power Plant Coal shortage forces Payra thermal power plant to close down
Dhaka, June 5: Due to the coal shortage, the electricity generation of Payra thermal power plant was stopped at 12:30 pm on Monday. This is the first time that the power plant has been completely shut down since its inception. A unit was shut down on May 25 due to coal shortage. The remaining unit was closed today. This has resulted in terrible load shedding across the country, including Patuakhali. The 1,320 MW Payra Thermal Power Station was the source of electricity for the entire region of Barisal, Khulna and some parts of Dhaka.
Shah Abdul Haseeb, Supervising Engineer of Payra Thermal Power Station, said that due to the coal shortage, the power generation of the second unit of the thermal power station was stopped at around 12:30 PM. However, LC has already been opened to bring coal. The first ship carrying coal is expected to arrive at the thermal power plant by the end of this month. Then the electricity production will start again.
Meanwhile, public life has been disrupted due to load shedding in Patuakhali. Locals have complained about frequent power cuts, upto four to five times, especially at night.
According to the data of Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB), currently 12,200 MW of electricity is being produced on an average per day against the demand of 13,500 MW. Coal-based power plants are producing an average of 2,000 MW against a capacity of 3,440 MW. 700 to 1000 electricity is generated from Payra thermal power plant. It burns more than 12 thousand tons of coal every day.
According to various sources, the Payra thermal power plant was being managed by Bangladesh government company Northwest Power Generation Company and China's government company CMC. Later, a separate company named Bangladesh-China Power Company Limited (BCPCL) was formed under equal ownership of the two companies. So far, CMC has given coal to Payra Thermal Power Station within 6 months. Later, with 3 more months of arrears, the arrears amount in 9 months is about $39 crores.
