Three gas-based rental power plants with a combined capacity of 200MW have applied to the government for extension of their contracts for five more years.
“We have received their applications and we have sat with them several times. As these are gas-based plants, we may extend the contracts considering the low-cost fuel,” Power Division Secretary Monowar Islam told the Dhaka Tribune recently.
The three plants are: 50MW Kumargaon plant of Energyprima Limited, 70MW Brahmanbaria plant and 80MW Ashuganj plant of Aggreo.
Under the original contract the tenure of the three plants was three years each. The contract of the Brahmanbaria plant will expire on March 05, 2014 and that of Ashuganj plant on May 30, 2014. The contract with Energyprima for the 50MW Kumargaon plant had already been extended once for three years which ends this July.
The government buys electricity at an average Tk3 per unit from these plants.
It is likely to extend two more rental power plants for five years, during which it will purchase electricity worth Tk4,408 crore from these plants.
The Power Division has proposed extending the three-year tenure of the 50MW DPA Power Generation Ltd run by the Bangladesh Armed Forces in Narayanganj and the 78.5MW Max Power Ltd in Ghorashal for another five years.
The government has also recently extended the contracts of six rental plants with a combined capacity of 425MW for five more years.The cabinet committee on public purchase approved the extensions on November 14 last year.
The six plants were the 110MW Bheramara diesel-fired plant of Quantum Power Ltd, the 100MW Siddhirganj diesel-fired plant of Desh Energy Ltd, the 55MW Ashuganj gas-fired plant of Precision Energy Ltd, the 55MW Sikalbaha HFO-fired plant of Energies Power Corporation Ltd, the 55 MW Khulna diesel-fired plant of Aggreo, and the 50MW Thakurgaon diesel-fired power of RZ Power Ltd.