Adani power chapter begins in Bangladesh
The Indian conglomerate Adani Group's entry into the power sector in Bangladesh officially commenced on Thursday as the first unit of Adani's Godda 1,600MW Thermal Power Plant was synchronised with the transmission line of the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh.
The supply from the Adani plant started at 7:38pm today, Mir Mohamamd Aslam Uddin, deputy chief information officer of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, said.
On Wednesday, the Power Grid Company conducted a reliable test on both sides of the transmission line and confirmed its readiness to the Bangladesh Power Development Board, according to the Power Division.
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The first unit has the capacity to generate around 750MW electricity but the plant is currently ready to supply around 660MW, said the source.
A controversy over the Adani power plant surfaced when it asked for a power supply order from Bangladesh which BPDB officials found unprecedentedly higher than the cost of coal with the same heating value that has been used in the Payra 1,320MW Thermal Power Plant built in Patuakhali of Barishal.
Therefore, the state-owned single buyer of electricity, sent a letter to the Adani Group demanding a mechanism to make the coal price more competitive.
A four-member delegation of Adani flew to Bangladesh to discuss a mechanism to make coal prices more competitive which was demanded by the BPDB and the Power Division.
On 23 February, both parties sat for a meeting to discuss coal prices and the expected discount.
In the meeting, representatives of Adani Group, led by its managing director and CEO, assured BPDB that its coal import cost will be in line with other coal power plants, said an official from Adani Bangladesh.
When asked if they reached any decision on the coal price mechanism for which they invited Adani to the country, Md Habibur Rahman refused to comment and suggested contacting the BPDB chairman.
