DHAKA: Bangladesh government planned to buy 30-50 megawatts of electricity from NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd (NVVN) from private parties to meet the shortfall in power imports from India, after proposal of Power Ministry here the other day.
A proposal from the power ministry will be sent to the cabinet committee on purchase today for approval, officials of Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and the ministry said.
Since October 2013, the country has been importing 500MW of electricity from India through grid interconnectivity between Bohorompur in India and Bheramara in Bangladesh.
Under the deal, Bangladesh got 250MW of electricity through NVVN and the remaining 250MW from Power Trading Company India Ltd (PTC).
In reality, the country has been getting 30-50MW of electricity less due to auxiliary consumption at the generating station and losses during transmission.
Subsequently, a decision was taken last year at the seventh meeting of the joint steering committee formed under the agreement signed between Bangladesh and India on electricity cooperation in 2010 to buy power from private suppliers in the neighbouring country.
BPDB then called for proposals from the two companies on whom to appoint as trading agent. The trading agent will purchase power from the Indian open market and supply to Bangladesh for a year.
As of now, BPDB is favouring the price quoted by NVVN, as it has offered the lower additional charges of the two companies.
The average price for a kilowatt-hour of electricity from the Indian government is Tk 3.27 per unit, much less than the market rate of Tk 5.99 per unit.
But the new power import from private players will cost an approximate Tk 4.74 a unit, which seems consistent with the price paid so far, said a BPDB official.
Once approved by the purchase committee, the country will receive electricity, said an official of the power ministry.
Discussions between the two countries are also ongoing for import of another 600MW from India.
An agreement might be signed in February this year to pave the way for import of another 500MW of electricity from India, said an official of the power ministry.
