Rampal Power Plant faces coal unloading problem -The Asian Age
Rampal Power Plant, one of the top priority projects of Bangladesh with India, is likely to face challenges in electricity generation after the proposed commissioning next month due to painstaking delay occurring at the coal unloading facility.
The unit-1 of 1,320MW plant will need around 5,000 metric tons of coal daily to produce 660MW of electricity, a concerned official said. "Delay while unloading the supplied coal poses a great risk of reduce electricity production and even this may lead to interrupt the electricity generation", the official added.
The delay in coal unloading at the jetty facilities already forced the Government to pay additional money as demurrage for the already imported coal, he said, adding that this has also created congestion of coal-loaded ships in Rampal jetty. Again, the lean riverine channel linked to the project has only less than 4 meters draft, for which a greater number of lighter vessels are being used instead of big capacity barges for carrying coals. "Around 55,000 metric tons of coal from the mother vessel got unloaded for over a long 1.5 months, instead of standard 7 days, which cost over Tk.12 crore additionally as demurrage," he added "at least 45 smaller vessels were required to carry all the imported coals from the mother vessel in the first lot."
The official said that the plant authority is going to select long-term coal suppliers through a competitive bidding process by the end of this month, but he feared that the coal suppliers might be discouraged because of the current delay in unloading. "Only one out of three conveyor belts of the jetty is operational so far to unload coal at this Indo-Bangla power plant. It faces trouble to unload of coal from a single jetty where this single ship-unloader sometimes remains idle due to technical glitch," the official said.
He added that it might face shutdown at the unit-1 during the commissioning period which is expected to be in late October, 2022.
The unit-1 of the power plant will need at least 5,000 metric tonnes of coal daily and the unit-2 is expected to start commissioning in March 2023, that will require another 5,000 metric tons daily.
"But, the plant has only one jetty operational (for unloading coal)," he said, expressing frustration, adding that "it was supposed to be completed in late 2021."
According to him, the plant will set up three jetties to unload coal for feeding fuel to the power plant. Of them, only one so far is ready for unloading coal for the power plant.
He added that it might face shutdown at the unit-1 during the commissioning period which is expected to be in late October, 2022.
The unit-1 of the power plant will need at least 5,000 metric tonnes of coal daily and the unit-2 is expected to start commissioning in March 2023, that will require another 5,000 metric tons daily.
"But, the plant has only one jetty operational (for unloading coal)," he said, expressing frustration, adding that "it was supposed to be completed in late 2021."
According to him, the plant will set up three jetties to unload coal for feeding fuel to the power plant. Of them, only one so far is ready for unloading coal for the power plant.
The official said, "There is a problem with the jetty also as its one of three conveyor belts is only operational. There is a deadlock on the jetty."
Besides, the authorities have yet to train up manpower to unload the imported coal, the official said.
One of the biggest set-back so far is that the sheds of coal and its drainage system have been quite unprepared at the mega project, so there is a massive storage capacity constraint, remedy to which seems uncertain.
Based on all these, concerned officials seek attention of honorable Prime Minister and expect quick action-oriented supports.
The plant authorities completed construction of a jetty where the unloading facility is partially operational, said Bangladesh India Friendship Power Company Ltd's Managing Director Engr. Sayeed Akram Ullah.
"We are working to complete another jetty late in September, 2022 and a third jetty will be launched in another two months," he informed.
He admitted that the company has been facing some difficulties managing facilities at the initial period of commissioning.
"We are hopeful that the coal unloading issues will be fixed before the commissioning period of the plant," Engr. Sayeed Akram Ullah said.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually unveiled the completion of Unit-1 of Rampal Power Plant (PP) during PM Hasina's latest visit to India in September 06, 2022.
During the plant visit last month, Subhash Chandra Pandey, project director of Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company Private Ltd (BIFPCL), said, "The Unit-1 of the 2x660 MW Maitree Super Thermal Power Project will be ready for commercial run at the end of October."
BIFPCL is a 50:50 joint venture company of India's NTPC Ltd and BPDB.
He noted that the project has been delayed by over 19 months due to Covid-19 pandemic as well as delays in soil test etc.
Subhash Chandra Pandey said that they had over one million tonnes of coal reserves that would be able to meet the demand of the two units for three months.
The power plant is being set up with super critical technology to actively mitigate environmental impact, he added.
"Some of the in-built measures to minimize air and water pollution include a Flue Gas Desulphurization System (FGD) with no bypass to control the emission of SOx, Integrated Effluent and Waste Management System to avoid contamination of Pasur River, construction of the tallest Chimney in Bangladesh (at 275 m) for a wider dispersion of flue gas emissions, construction of an advance Ship Unloader for coal as well as a fully covered Coal Stock Yard, along with use of High Grade imported coal with low ash and sulphur content," the project director said.
BIFPCL has signed a facility agreement involving $1,600 million with the Export-Import Bank of India for financing of the EPC contract award to BHEL along with capitalisation of interest during construction (IDC). Of the amount, $100 million has been earmarked for capitalization of interest during construction.
Besides, the authorities have yet to train up manpower to unload the imported coal, the official said.
One of the biggest set-back so far is that the sheds of coal and its drainage system have been quite unprepared at the mega project, so there is a massive storage capacity constraint, remedy to which seems uncertain.
Based on all these, concerned officials seek attention of honorable Prime Minister and expect quick action-oriented supports.
The plant authorities completed construction of a jetty where the unloading facility is partially operational, said Bangladesh India Friendship Power Company Ltd's Managing Director Engr. Sayeed Akram Ullah.
"We are working to complete another jetty late in September, 2022 and a third jetty will be launched in another two months," he informed.
He admitted that the company has been facing some difficulties managing facilities at the initial period of commissioning.
"We are hopeful that the coal unloading issues will be fixed before the commissioning period of the plant," Engr. Sayeed Akram Ullah said.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually unveiled the completion of Unit-1 of Rampal Power Plant (PP) during PM Hasina's latest visit to India in September 06, 2022.
During the plant visit last month, Subhash Chandra Pandey, project director of Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company Private Ltd (BIFPCL), said, "The Unit-1 of the 2x660 MW Maitree Super Thermal Power Project will be ready for commercial run at the end of October."
BIFPCL is a 50:50 joint venture company of India's NTPC Ltd and BPDB.
He noted that the project has been delayed by over 19 months due to Covid-19 pandemic as well as delays in soil test etc.
Subhash Chandra Pandey said that they had over one million tonnes of coal reserves that would be able to meet the demand of the two units for three months.
The power plant is being set up with super critical technology to actively mitigate environmental impact, he added.
"Some of the in-built measures to minimize air and water pollution include a Flue Gas Desulphurization System (FGD) with no bypass to control the emission of SOx, Integrated Effluent and Waste Management System to avoid contamination of Pasur River, construction of the tallest Chimney in Bangladesh (at 275 m) for a wider dispersion of flue gas emissions, construction of an advance Ship Unloader for coal as well as a fully covered Coal Stock Yard, along with use of High Grade imported coal with low ash and sulphur content," the project director said.
BIFPCL has signed a facility agreement involving $1,600 million with the Export-Import Bank of India for financing of the EPC contract award to BHEL along with capitalisation of interest during construction (IDC). Of the amount, $100 million has been earmarked for capitalization of interest during construction.