Rampal plant to resume power generation from Wednesday
Electricity generation at the 1st unit of Rampal 1320MW coal power plant is going to resume from Wednesday (15 February) after being shut down for a month over coal shortage and dollar crunch.
The plant authorities, Bangladesh India Friendship Power Company (BIFPCL), decided to run the station thanks to the resumption of coal import and ease in dollar crisis.
A ship carrying 30,000 tonnes of coal arrived in the country on 9 February and another shipment with 50,000 tonnes is due on 18 February, said Anwarul Azim, DGM at BIFPCL.
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The plant, also known as Maitree Super Thermal Power Project, a joint venture of Bangladesh and India, is being built at Rampal of Bagerhat.
After several delays, the first unit of the plant started supplying power to the national grid on 17 December.
The unit requires around 5000 tonnes of coal each day in order to run in full capacity.
Earlier on 14 January, the BIFPCL shut down production at the first unit owing to an interruption in coal import due to delayed payment.
Before the shutdown, a total of 1.50 lakh tonnes of coal was imported.
Initially, BIFPCL planned to import 3 lakh tonnes of coal for the commissioning phase. But, it is now aiming to extend the contract to double the volume.
Besides, BIFPCL also signed another contract to import 8 million tonnes of coal in three years.
