& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

PDB won’t purchase power from RPCL because of ’too high’ rate

From Md. Aminul Islam
MYMENSINGH. Mar 1: The Power Development Board (PDB) has declined to purchase power from the Rural Power Company Ltd (RPCL) because the rate is much higher.
RPCL. a company owned by the Rural Electrification Board (REB), had proposed to sell power to PDB from Its plant in Mymensingh. It offered a price of Tk. 2.09 per kilowatt hour but PDB said it could purchase power from RPCL at a rate of Tk 1.5 or below.
The REB itself purchases power from PDB at a rate of Tk. 1.77 per unit. In a letter sent to the Energy* Ministry’. PDB suggested r£cL to sell power directly to REB. RPCL sources here said.
The price offered to PDB must not be more than Tk. 1.5 per unit because it (PDB) has to □ear its operational expenses and earn profit by selling the same power to the REB," said a source referring to PDB’s letter.
In.its letter PDB further said, it is true that power generated at some PDB plants are much
more costly because those use Imported fuel as there is no gas supply in those areas.
But there is no reason why gas fired RPCL power should be so much costly. PDB said.
One of the two 70 MW plants of RPCL in Mymensingh started trial operation on November 20. This power would be added to the National Grid. Its second unit, now being constructed, would add another 70 MW power. When both the plants would be operational, these would Jointly generate heatbased extra power and the total generation would then rise up to 210 MW’, the sources said.
The RPCL project, involving an expenditure of 34 million US dollars, was scheduled to be completed by late 1996. Bureaucratic tangles and lack of drive by the plant's developer delayed the project by four years, leading to cost escalation.
However, according to a RPCL source at Mymensingh. per unit production cost of its power is .between Tk. 0.64 and
Tk 0.70.
The RPCL was formed in 1994 with REB sharing 51 per cent of its shares and five Palli Bidyut Samltles (PBSs) sharing 49 per cent.
A consortium formed with Mitsui Engineering and Ship Building Company of Japan and European Gas Turbine SA of France are conducting "reliability test in the RPCL plant
The consortium will hand over the plant on completion of the test. Though owned by the RPCL. the plant will be operated and maim,unvd by Lanmeyer International and Palli Power Service under an agreement.
However, sources pointed out , that though RPCL has a good number of engineers to operate and maintain the plant, it is not clear why the REB and RPCL made maintenance and operation contracts with other companies.
The PBSs under the REB now purchase around 300 MW power from PDB.