Coal fired power much cheaper26 Feb 2018 05:26
Generation of electricity in coal-fired power plants is viable and much cheaper provided the locally explored quality coal is used as fuel in the plants instead of imported ones.
The International Chamber of Commerce-Bangladesh (ICCB) made the view in the editorial of its current News Bulletin (Oct-Dec 2017) released Sunday.
“Bangladesh should, therefore, go for all-out commercial exploration of coal in the next five years to make the power sector, the backbone of the country's economy, sustainable and vibrant,” the editorial reads.
The power generation capacity in Bangladesh has increased due to favorable government policies, which have attracted private investment and Independent Power Producers (IPP). They are now producing 46 percent of total power in Bangladesh. Though the government has achieved significant success in electricity generation, actual capacity utilisation is 9,507 MW only due to vulnerable and double-digit system loss prevailing in the distribution mechanism, the ICCB said.
Sustainable and uninterrupted energy is critical for the economic growth. The per capita energy consumption in Bangladesh is one of the lowest in the world (433KWH as of October 2017).
The installed capacity of Bangladesh in 1972 was only 200MW. Since then, the current power generation has increased to 16,046MW with 600MW import from India, the editorial adds.
The Power Sector Master Plan (PSMP) 2015 has a target of 57,000MW generation by 2041 – 35 percent coal based, 35 percent Gas and LNG based and remaining 30 percent would come from nuclear power, power import and renewable energy – 5 percent import, 5 percent from nuclear and 20 percent from renewable energy.
The government has decided to import LNG for the proposed 15,300 MW LNG-based power generation plants. Contracts have already been signed with private sector operators for 7 million tonnes (1000MCFD) of annual LNG import, ICCB said. Also, works are in progress for 22,000MW imported coal-based power generation by 2041 for which about 66 million tonnes of coal would be needed annually. The government has taken the initiative for setting up a coal transfer terminal at Matarbari with a capacity of 40 million tonnes annually. Also, the construction work of the 1,200MW Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, the first such plant in the country has formally started on November 30, 2017.
Asian nations including China, India, Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam are increasingly prioritising coal to strengthen their economies. China, India and Indonesia now burn 71 per cent of the world's newly mined coals, ICCB said quoting the World Coal Association.
http://www.thebangladeshpost.com/business/22263/pdf
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