Rental & peaking power plants
Photo: Raj Anikat / Driknews
The news was published in most dailies on the 20th and 21st August. The decision does not seem to be technically transparent as discussed below. The proposal to have these peaking plants, using expensive liquid fuel at different dispersed locations will lead to higher costs, and in foreign exchange payments too! Instead why do we not install two units of say 400MW plants based on powdered coal steam boilers at locations near the coalmines? This would be economical and not based on imported fuel. A vital issue which must be sorted out once and for all is the rather unrealistic opposition to open pit mining, which is holding coal needed for power plant installation to ransom! Is this not the worst form of economic sabotage imaginable? Or, is it that our transmission network is not capable to disperse the packets of power needed at different locations where the rental plants are proposed to be set up? The elected government must give all the reasons, and ensure open pit coal mining in the overall national interest for our economic development for which electric power generation is a must. On power tariff if needed we should increase it, possibly by 50 percent in two or three steps spread over the next two or three years at most. This will reduce the large financial burden of compensation to the power sector; which reportedly comes to Tk 3,400 crore per annum! Importantly, we must reduce power consumption and go all-out for improving electrical efficiencies of all our electric motor drives, retro-fitting it to have energy efficient motors. The necessary one time financial support for this move will be a one time national cost, providing long lasting permanent benefits!
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