DHAKA: Bangladesh is preparing to purchase electricity on India’s open energy market in a bid to mitigate the country’s power crisis, ahead of peak demand in the summer.
According to a proposal signed by Power Division Secretary Monowar Hossain, India’s Jaiprakash Power Ventures will supply 40MW of electricity to Bangladesh across the Behrampur–Bheramara grid connection point.
The proposal said some Tk319.78 crore (approximately US$39,972,500) would be paid over to Jaiprakash Power over the next two years for the 40MW of electricity – a per unit cost of 5.704 US cents per kilowatt hour (kWh).
The average price of locally produced electricity is 8.375 US cents. Local rental power plants charge up to 37.2125 US cents per kWh. “The government has decided to purchase 40MW of electricity on the Indian open market to meet local demand,” State Minister for Power Nasrul Hamid confirmed to the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
The bid was selected in a limited tendering process, officials said. Nigrie Super Thermal Power Station in Madhya Pradesh, owned by Jaypee Group subsidiary Jaiprakash Power Ventures, will supply the electricity.
The open market electricity purchase proposal will be placed before the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase, chaired by Finance Minister AMA Muhith, for approval this week. State Minister for Power Nasrul is expected to attend the meeting.
Power Division insiders said the proposal is likely to be approved. Other Indian power companies that participated in the tender include private firms GMR Chhattisgarh Energy and Jindal Power as well as state-owned West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited. Their bids, ranging between 5.734 US cents per kWh and 6.125 US cents per kWh, were not as competitive as Jaiprakash Power’s offering, the proposal said.
Bangladesh currently imports around 500MW of electricity from India at the Behrampur – Bheramara grid connection and is scheduled to import a further 500MW from 2017. The country plans to import another 100MW of electricity from Tripura’s Palatana power project, sources in the Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry said.
