Singapore’s Sembcorp Green Infra Limited has proposed to supply 50 MW of power to Bangladesh through the existing Baharampur-Bheramara Indo-Bangla grid interconnectivity.
The electricity tariff will be $7.35 per unit, which includes transmission charges and 0.48 cents of losses.
This indicates that the proposed price is costlier than the existing power import prices under public and private arrangements.
However, an official said on the condition of anonymity, “We have the option of reducing the cost.”
Earlier, Bangladesh and Nepal had decided to exchange 50 MW power from Kathmandu in the 4th Joint Steering Committee meeting in Nepal on August 28 this year.
Then, both sides agreed to sign a tripartite agreement with India. But, the Indian NVVN has not yet responded to these issues.
In response to the proposal, the Indian Power Exchange proposed to supply 50 MW of power through the existing grid line at Bheramara-Bahrampur between Bangladesh and India.
Once, the government permits, the Indian counterpart will supply a part of the power on top priority basis.
As per the official proposal, the Singapore company will supply electricity for a period of 25 years from solar and wind power with 85 per cent plant factor.
Despite partial power supply within 12 months, it will be able to supply full power within 24 months.
Now, Sembcorp Energy India Limited is supplying 450MW power from Andhra Pradesh, India under an India-Bangladesh bilateral deal through the Bheramara Baharampur grid line.
As per the proposal, the existing Indo-Bangladesh grid line is capable of transmitting 1000 MW of power. But it was able to use only a maximum of 956 MW of power due to transmission line losses at the drawdown point.
The Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) also predicted the Bheramara Baharampur gridline to be unused. Therefore, it suggested importing at least 50 MW of power at that time, read the BPDB letter.
The government imports about 900 MW of power against a capacity of 1000 MW from India since 5 October 2013 through the Bharmara grid line.
Of the quantity, 250 MW of power comes from the unallocated quota of Indian state-owned NVVN at an average market tariff of Rs 2.78 per kWh (per unit).
In addition, another 250MW comes through the Indian open market through PTC with a tariff of $0.0749 per unit excluding transmission charges.
The government has a deal with India to import 1160 MW of electricity.
Bangladesh will also import 600 MW of power from the Indian state of Jharkhand in early 2023.