The Dhaka Times Desk Coal-based power projects in the country have come to a standstill. Although there are government initiatives, the implementation of these coal-based power projects has become almost uncertain due to some reasons, according to related sources.
The government is producing expensive electricity by importing fuel from abroad at high prices. Therefore, the government is taking initiatives to generate electricity with imported coal in some cases to reduce the cost. But it doesn't help much. Because, the infrastructure needed to import coal is not present in Bangladesh. On the other hand, although this problem can be solved in domestic coal, the government is not able to take any decision regarding the mining of this coal without making committee after committee for years. As a result, the future of coal-based power projects in the country has become bleak.
Many of those concerned expressed their disappointment and said that the total amount of coal that can be mined in five coal mines in the country is 125 million tons, which can be used to generate electricity in the country for the next 40 years. Now, except for Barapukuria, no initiative of the government can be seen regarding coal extraction from the remaining four mines. During the tenure of the current government, not a single coal-based power plant could be started. Before coming to power, the government had said that special initiatives would be taken to set up coal-based power plants. On the other hand, the government has been in trouble with the Dinajpur coal mine.
Experts say that according to the government plan, a total of 20,000 megawatts of electricity will be produced with coal by the year 2030. Of this, 11,000 megawatts will be produced from imported foreign coal. But currently there is no infrastructure to import coal in Bangladesh. Apart from that, while importing fuel oil, we also faced several economic problems. In this case, that is also an obstacle. Meanwhile, long-term sources of coal for imports are difficult to find, according to a recent report by the Environmental and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS). Apart from this, capital dredging and regular river mining from Akram point of estuary of Chittagong and Bagerhat to the project area to fetch coal is very expensive and complicated. Again the rising price of coal is also important. Apart from this, coal stockpiling and transportation to the power plant is also not easy.
Energy expert Badrul Imam recently told reporters that if the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) started working on coal policy formulation and establishment of coal-based power plants from the beginning of this government, several coal-based power plants would have started production. To generate electricity with imported coal, it had to be done earlier. Now if we go to generate electricity with imported coal, the economy will collapse.
Those concerned say that most of the power projects undertaken so far by public and private initiatives on imported coal will not see the light of day.
According to PDB and Ministry sources, Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company (Pvt.) Limited, a joint venture of PDB and India's National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), will set up a 1,320 MW power plant at Rampal in Bagerhat. Electricity will be generated in this center with imported coal. However, there are still many complications with this. It is very difficult to secure a long-term contract with the concerned country for the purpose of coal import, the huge amount of debt required for regular mining and project implementation to bring coal by ship. According to sources, the two parties have progressed so far, even in the next five years, this project cannot be implemented.
PDB sources also said that three centers will be set up in Khulna, Chittagong and Mawa by private initiative in the government's plan. Although they are scheduled to be launched in June 2015, they will not be launched on schedule. However, the advisor on electricity, energy and mineral resources. Tawfiq-e-Ilahi Chowdhury recently said that all efforts are being made to ensure that the proposed coal-based power plants come into production on time.
Now the rest depends on the goodwill of the concerned ministries of the government. Because it is the responsibility of the relevant ministry to implement the government announcement. The electricity shortage in the country is currently bearable but the demand is increasing day by day. If we don't take initiative in this matter from now, the country's electricity problem will become more prominent in the future. So experts think, now is the time to implement the decision in this regard. Moreover, since there is already a huge demand for gas in the country, it is more important to implement coal-based projects than gas-based and oil-based power plants.
English 
Bengali