Petrobangla rapped over gas failure
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday expressed her unhappiness over poor progress in improving gas supply and renewed her instructions to avoid load-shedding during Sehri and Ifter hours.
At a meeting with energy and power officials held at the energy ministry, Hasina came down heavily on Petrobangla for poor performance in implementing gas augmentation, pipeline and compressor projects, saying the present situation was the same a year ago. She held a review meeting exactly one year ago where the same issues were discussed and Petrobangla assured an early implementation.
She also told the Power Development Board (PDB) to strengthen its load management efforts so that load-shedding could be minimised and launch a drive to motivate subscribers to conserve power.
At the three-and-a-half-hour meeting, the premier was told that by December the PDB is expected to increase its power generation to 6,000 megawatt, enough to end load-shedding.
"Even if we achieve a level of 5,700-5,800 MW power generation, we can say the year 2012 would largely be load-shedding free," said a meeting source. The PDB now has several power projects with 1,000 to 1,200 MW capacity that would be completed by December this year.
The meeting was attended, among others, by Prime Minister's Energy Adviser Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, State Minister for Power Enamul Haq, Principal Secretary MA Karim, Energy Secretary Mesbah Uddin, Power Secretary Abul Kalam Azad and Petrobangla and PDB high officials.
Reviewing the progress in gas sector, Hasina strongly emphasised implementation of three major gas pipeline construction by next year so that by 2013, gas supply from three different fields operated by US company Chevron could be increased by around 1,000 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd).
She also asked the authorities to find ways to reduce cost of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) containers so that people could use them as a cost effective alternative to gas stoves.
Presently, Petrobangla is able to supply maximum 2,000 mmcfd gas against a demand of at least 2,500 mmcfd. The remaining gas could not be supplied due to lack of new gas production as well as lack of new pipeline and compressors.
The Petrobangla last year took up a "fast-track" development scheme in gas sector to increase production and build infrastructures but failed to launch it.
It has recently gone for a tender that is restricted within just four particular bidders to construct the three pipelines under the Gas Transmission Company Ltd (GTCL). Sources say if the GTCL was competent, it could have gone for the tender long ago with larger participation. A restricted tender with only four companies is likely to create "syndication" where the bidders would dictate the project cost, they add.
The three pipelines would help pump in at least 1,400 mmcfd new gas within 2013. The first pipeline would be a 91-kilometre one between Maheshkhali to Anwara. This pipeline is vital for successful implementation of the government's project to import Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from Qatar to the Maheshkhali coast, regasify the LNG and supply 500 mmcfd gas to the national grid.
The government aims at beginning the LNG import from December next year through constructing an import facility.
The second pipeline will be constructed in two parts to bring in more than 900 mmcfd gas from three gas fields in Sylhet operated by US company Chevron. The first part is a 61 km pipeline between Jalalabad and Bibiyana gas fields and the second is a 138 km pipeline between Bibiyana and Dhanua.
The third pipeline would increase overall gas transmission between Chittagong and Dhaka through a 61 km pipeline starting from Ashuganj and ending at Bakhrabad.
At yesterday's meeting, the PM was also critical about Petrobangla's unusual handling of an Asian Development Bank (ADB)-financed tender to install two gas compressors. The Petrobangla had slowed down this tender process to promote in its place two Russian compressors to be installed under government financing.
Meeting sources say Hasina told Petrobangla that both the compressor projects could go on side by side instead of one replacing another. She noted that the country needed more compressors anyway.
The PDB said when the gas supply would increase in 2013, the power sector should get 60 percent of that gas for power generation. Since the government came to power, PDB has signed 39 contracts, while around two dozen contracts are in the pipeline, officials said.
As adequate gas was not being supplied to power generation, many plants were sitting idle or generating less than their capacity. Gas was the cheapest resource for power generation and presently the PDB was incurring huge loss by generating power using costly imported petroleum as a short-term measure. The government had to spend Tk 4,000 crore last year as subsidy in the power sector alone.
The PDB also requested the prime minister to allocate around $2 billion to set up power distribution lines in the next three years and install pre-paid meters.
Hasina also discussed increase in power tariff to minimise losses incurred by the PDB due to costly power generation. She however suggested slow and gradual increase in tariff so that people do not feel the pressure.
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