THE absence of a quality control mechanism in the power sector has led to extra fuel costs in power generation. A recent Power Development Board analysis shows that some plants consume up to 90 per cent more fuel than others do. The finding indicates an overall power management failure in stopping the leak of the already scanty supplies of imported fuels. Experts say that factors such as the import and transport cost, the dollar exchange rate, plant factor and, especially, the quality of machines that contribute to varying degrees of fuel consumption, exist in the power sector. During the Awami League regime, when the power sector experienced a lopsided development, driven by an abnormally high overcapacity and an absurd capacity charge system, many party loyalists were rewarded with power projects without tender under the now-repealed indemnity law, with the power sector investors choosing their machines while quality control mechanisms did not exist. Independent power plants exploited the situation and brought used machines that led to the over-consumption of fuels and frequent shutdown of plants. The public power plants also used more fuels as they were poorly maintained. The scenario has not yet changed.
The frequent shutdowns of power plants, not only the old ones but also new ones, because of technical glitches show the absence of quality checks. For example, the first unit of the 1,320MW coal-fired Rampal plant, a Bangladesh-India joint venture, shut down eight times in the first nine months after it started running in December 2022. The plant, where per-unit fuel cost is 28 per cent higher than a similar power plant, was available for only 18 per cent of the time this January, according to the power board. Frequent shutdowns and resumptions of the plants require extra fuel. The fuel cost in the Tongi Power Plant is 47 per cent higher compared with the average cost of fuel in similar plants. Many other plants have continued to operate at a little fraction of their capacity. Among gas-based plants, as the power board analysis shows, the average fuel costs of public plants are about 20 per cent higher than that of independent power plants, largely because of old machines that have served out their economic life. So is the case with oil- and coal-based public power plants. Some independent power plants, including Adani and Summit鈥檚, also have high fuel costs riding on unequal power deals.
The authorities should, therefore, look into the issue and put a rigorous quality control mechanism in place to oversee the public plants. As for independent power plants, the authorities need to make the board鈥檚 IPP cell, which does not have a director, fully functional.
