A huge amount of money is being wasted along with people being deprived of quality electricity, as the construction of power transmission lines is not completed on time.
State-owned Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) is a unique organization for construction of power transmission lines in the country.
The construction work of the Rooppur nuclear power project is going on in full swing. The 2400 MW Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project, with two units, was undertaken in 2010. As per the latest project plan, the first unit of the nuclear power plant will supply 1,200MW power in 2024 while the same amount of electricity will be available from the second unit in 2025. The overall progress of the first unit is 70%.
However, even though these works are progressing, the construction of PGCB's transmission lines to receive electricity is lagging behind. So it is feared that power generation may not start on time due to transmission lines, even if the plant is ready.
The Rooppur project is being implemented by the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission with the technical and financial support of
The project's construction cost, including manpower training, amounts to $12.65 billion, and 90% of it is being funded by Russia.
The construction progress of one package of transmission project under construction in eight packages is only 2 percent. PGCB recently told the parliamentary standing committee that the construction of the transmission lines was delayed due to loan waiver from India and delay in appointment of contractors.
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said that execution of the power transmission line of the project was delayed due to Covid-19 pandemic and Russia-Ukraine war. But, work is ongoing. Efforts are being made to complete the works on time. The project will not be delayed by too long.
He said “the transmission line crossing the Padma River is a major work which may take another one and a half years to complete. We hope we can complete the trans
mission line before completion of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project.”
Sources said three companies in India are working on construction of transmission lines. Basically, due to the lack of speed in the work of the three companies, uncertainty has arisen about the completion of the work on the scheduled time. Exim Bank of India has delayed 240 days to finalize the contractor and tender documents. There is also a delay due to Covid-19.
Under 8 packages, the construction of the Rooppur-Baghbari 230 KV 65 km line of this project has already been done. The construction progress of the 51 km Aminbazar-Kaliakoir 400 KV line is about 82 percent done. The construction progress of 147 km Aminbazar-Kaliakoir 400 KV line is about 46 percent. Progress of 144 km of Rooppur-Gopalganj 400 KV is 51 percent. The progress of construction of the 9 bay extension is 24.50 percent. The Jamuna and Padma river crossing section has the lowest progress at 2 percent.
Shafiqul Islam, Project Director of Roopppur Transmission Line of PGCB, said that they are trying their best to complete the project on time. The work of river crossing is delayed. However, the contractor has been appointed. He expressed hope that the project will be completed by 2024.
The Power transmission infrastructure for RNPP is planned to be implemented by the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) under government loan support from the Indian Line of Credit (LoC). The government of Bangladesh and India signed a US$ 1.06 billion dollar loan agreement in 2017 for financing the power transmission infrastructures with a target to implement them within 2022.
The authorities extended the project deadline up to December next year and could use 27% from the total allocation of around Tk 10,982 crore.
On the other hand, due to transmission line constraints, the 1320 MW coal-fired power plant at Payra, which was completed in 2020, is yet to run at full capacity. Due to non-availability of electricity according to the capacity, as per the terms of the contract, BPDB had to pay Tk 4000 crore as capacity charge in the last two years. PGCB is also paying the fine.
