Adani to start power supply to Bangladesh in March first week: Nasrul

State Minister for Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said on Sunday that electricity import from Adani's Godda 1600 megawatt coal-fired power plant will commence in the first week of March – almost a month ahead of the revised date of 26 March.

Nasrul Hamid made the disclosure amid some media reports citing the Power Division's letter to Adani to revise the power purchase agreement due to a higher rate of coal.

"What is agreed will remain as it is. Electricity prices will increase and decrease, along with coal's price rate on global markets," he told journalists at his ministry.

Nasrul Hamid said Bangladesh will get the electricity from the Indian company at a competitive market price, adding, "There is no doubt about this. 750MW power will come from the first unit in March. Another 750MW will come from the second unit in April.

"There is nothing to worry about the electricity supply during the coming irrigation season. Several coal-based power plants will come into production soon."

The state minister said Rampal power plant has already come into production, while SS Power and Barisal power plant will start operation soon.

"Efforts have been made to keep the supply of electricity normal. There is nothing to be panicked about the power supply during the irrigation season," he added.

Nasrul Hamid informed the media about the import of eight cargos of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the spot market.

On 3 January this year, Anil Sardana, managing director of Adani Power, told a group of media that they wanted to start supplying power to Bangladesh from 26 March – the Independence Day of Bangladesh.

The Bangladesh Power Development Board signed the power purchase agreement with Adani on 5 November 2017 to import electricity from Jharkhand, India.

As per the agreement, Adani Group has been constructing a 1,600MW power plant having two units with 800MW generation capacities each at Godda, in Jharkhand.

Later, Adani Group constructed a dedicated transmission line to supply electricity from India to Bangladesh.

Concerns over cost

Initially, the cost per kilowatt-hour (or a unit) of electricity from the Godda plant was estimated at Tk8.71, but now it has reached up to Tk15 due to the high cost of coal and high capacity charges.

In the existing agreement with Adani, the price of per tonne of coal has been considered at $400 which is $245 per tonne for the Payra power plant that also imports coal with the same calorific value, said sources at the Power Development Board.

Amid the existing economic recession and money crunch, the Power Division expressed concerns over the cost of Adani's electricity and sent a letter to the company on 25 December last requesting it to find out a mechanism to decrease the import cost of coal under the power purchase agreement.

The letter also asked Adani to send a team to Dhaka to negotiate the matter with officials of the BPDB and the Power Division, confirmed officials of Adani and the BPDB. 

Following the development, Indian media outlet Moneycontrol reported the commercial operations date (COD) of Adani Group's 1,600MW thermal power station in Godda is likely to be delayed again due to Bangladesh's concerns over the "excessive" pricing of the coal to be used in the plant.

Quoting senior officials of the state-run REC and Power Finance Corporation, Money Control stated that an extension of the COD is the only possible alternative given the current stalemate between Adani Power and the BPDB over the cost of electricity supplied by the plant.

Nasrul Hamid, however, dismissed the issue on Sunday bringing the COD date ahead.