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Tongi Power Plant

Record gas output fails to put it at full throttle

Sharier Khan
The country's gas production yesterday reached an all time high of 1,450 million cubic feet a day (mmcfd) but the new 110-megawatt (mw) gas turbine Tongi power plant cannot go into full operation due to erratic gas pressure and unwanted particles in gas.
Sources said this Chinese-built plant started test operation from on March 7 and went for non-stop
generation for seven days from March 14, supplying up to 110mw. But it had to suspend operation only after 28 hours due to excessive presence of magnetic particles in gas. Since then the plant could not go forfull operation.
An official of Harbin, the Chinese builder, said the plant is ready for full operation but it is now producing between 10mw and 40mw power.
Built to function as Power Development Board's (PDB's)
'peaking' plant, it cannot properly supply power to the grid also due to lowvoltageinthe 132kv line of Tongi area.
Under the agreement with Harbin, the plant wants the lowest voltage to be 119kv. But the voltage is only 04-107kv, which is not enough for starting the Gas Booster Compressor and for synchronisation of the generator. Only after midnight, voltage rises to 110kv and the plant can startoperation.
Sources said the plant needs gas supply at a pressure of 60 Pounds per Square Inch Gauge (psig)but most of the time the pressure is much below that. "Sometimes it is lower than 50 psig," complains the Harbin official.
The fall in pressure is faking place because Titas Gas authorities have not installed a metering station in the power plant area to ensure a steady gas flow. The existing station is located 2.5 km away from the plant.
"When gas is pulled from this long pipeline, pressure drops suddenly. Such fluctuations also threaten some vital equipment of the power plant," said one source.
Load shedding hovers between 450 mw and 800 mw every alternative day this month and Tongi plant was supposed to improve the situation.
The PDB says it is unable to keep all the plants generating power due to gas supply shortfall. The power plants in the country consume about 700 mmefd gas but Petrobangla, which is responsible for supply of gas, supplies up to 650 mmefd to them.
Tongi plant requires 25 mmefd gas supply.
A top Petrobangla official however said yesterday gas supply in the country is 'very good right now1 and no power
plant should remain shut due to lack of gas. Tongi plant’s problem is entirely a 'local issue' that Titas Gas authorities should address.
" Moulavibazar gas field developed by Unocal has also started supplying 70 mmefd gas from today (Tuesday) and our supply has reached 1,450 mmefd."
He went on, "Gas supplied to Tongi plant had magnetic particles because the pipeline is new and it needs proper cleaning. This is notan unusual problem and it has been resolved."
Harbin officials however remained sceptical about an immediate solution to Tongi plant's localised problems.
The power projectapproved atthefag end of the Awami League rule has been facing a lot of difficulty due to political and bureaucratic bottlenecks all along. The present government shelved the project for more than a year by bringing allegations of corruption and then moved ahead with it in 2002-03.
The PDB signed a contract with Harbin, the lowest bidderforthe project, in June 2003 for an 80 mw plant. Harbin later bargained for installing a 110 mw one. The plant was supposed to go into operation by October 2004 but it missed the deadline due to various reasons including lack of proper infrastructure to transport its equipment.