Slow grid projects limit power generation benefit

Even though the country has  achieved record power generation capacity, grid expansion for better distribution of electricity has not kept up with the growth.

There are 17 projects involving Tk63,739 crore to build a reliable and uninterrupted power transmission system but their pace of implementation is much slower than desired.

The Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) installed only 2,588 kilometres of transmission lines of different capacities in five years to 2020 against a target of 8,000km set in the seventh five-year plan.

Power sector experts say transmission line expansion is not keeping pace with the rapid growth of power generation capacity, thanks to delay in implementing projects caused by misplans and negligence.

In the five years from FY15, the length of the total transmission system increased by only 26.69% to 9,695km, while the generation capacity grew nearly 74% to 23,548 megawatts at the end of FY20 from 13,540MW, according to data from the Planning Commission. 

Project directors blame the delays to complexities in land acquisition, different conditions set by development lenders, taking longer time in preparing tender documents and selecting contractors, and slow disbursements of funds.  

In this situation, the experts demand that the government accelerate the implementation of the projects taken up for strengthening and expanding the transmission network to ensure the best value for money invested in electricity capacity generation.

Energy expert Dr Mohammad Tamim told The Business Standard that it did not make sense to take up such large projects if those could not be implemented.  

"We have to increase the number of substations alongside installing necessary transmission lines to build a reliable transmission system. But we do not see any initiatives other than mere approval of projects," he said.

How delays get longer

Some 13 out of the 17 project deadlines have been extended one or more times. The remaining four relatively new projects will also require time extension as their progress is glacial.

For example, the PGCB started the implementation of a project to install a total of 265km transmission lines, including the Ghorashal-Tongi 28km double circuit transmission line in July 2013 with a deadline of June 2017.

The tenure of the four-year project was extended for another five and a half years as the power grid company could not start the project in full swing in the specified time.

In another example, the "400/230/132kV Grid Network Development Project" will see its extended tenure end next December with more than 15% of the work yet to be completed. But the authorities have no plan to complete the project by the current fiscal year and are seeking to extend the deadline further.

Md Farid Ahmmed, project director and chief engineer of PGCB, said there are solid reasons behind the unexpected delay.

The project was approved in 2013, and the physical works started in 2018. The late start was due to delay in awarding the contract. Work on two sub-stations is yet to start.

He said work on the components financed by the Asian Development Bank have finished, those with the Islamic Development Bank funds are lagging behind, and that is why the project would not be completed within the current fiscal, he added.

Delays leave Payra plant underutilised 

The 660MW unit of the Payra thermal power plant remains idle because the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh failed to speed up the 174km 400kV double circuit line from Mongla to Dhaka project.

The double circuit line through Gopalganj with other infrastructure was supposed to be built by June 2020 under a project started in July 2016, to transmit 4,000MW of electricity to the capital from Payra, Rampal and other plants. The four-year project got a three-year time extension.

The Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) of the Planning Ministry expressed concern in 2020 that the capacity of the Payra thermal power plant would remain underutilised due to any delay in the project.

The revised project involving Tk2,505 crore is scheduled to be finished by next year with a 85% cost hike than the initial cost of Tk1,357 crore.

Starting in 2016, the Dhaka-Chattogram Main Power Grid Strengthening Project was supposed to install 227.5km of transmission lines by 2020. Even though the time was extended by another two and half years, the project could achieve 71% progress.

The tenure of the Energy Efficiency in Grid Based Power Supply Project was extended to December 2024, which was scheduled to be completed by June last year. 

With only 33% progress in six years, there are also doubts about the completion of the 177km transmission line in eight years.

Rooppur grid work goes slow too 

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council approved a project to develop 669 KM of transmission line by December this year, starting from April 2018, to evacuate 2,400MW of electricity to the national grid that would be generated from the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant.

The authorities extended the project deadline up to December next year and could use 27% from the total allocation of around Tk10,982 crore.

The Power Grid Network Strengthening Project has been running since October 2016 with Tk14,326 crore. A 765-km transmission line and sub-stations of various capacities were supposed to be installed last year under the project with assistance from China. 

In the last six years, less than 16% work has been done on the project, according to the PGCB.

The project with a tenure of four years and nine months saw its time get extended by another three years till 2024.

Overdependence on foreign lenders 

About 60% of the costs for 17 projects for construction of transmission lines are being implemented with foreign loans.

Experts say implementation of the projects is delayed by overdependence on external funding. It takes time to comply with different terms and conditions set by development lenders and get the money released. 

Energy expert Dr Mohammad Tamim said to speed up transmission line projects, the government needs to spend more from its exchequer, reducing reliance on from foreign loans. 

The annual development programme (ADP) allocation for FY23 amounts to Tk2,56,003 crore, with foreign aid's portion targeted at Tk95,833 crore. Disbursements of foreign assistance have come down to below 30% in the last few years because of implementing agencies' inefficiencies in spending such funds.

Planning Minister MA Mannan told TBS that they have given the go-ahead to all the projects taken up for the power sector's development. 

It is very unfortunate that work on the projects to expand transmission lines has not been completed by the deadlines, he said.