Current Status: Retired
Source: Sharebarta.net
Bogura 22 MW Gas Power Plant, also known as GBB Bogura Rental Power Plant, was a reciprocating engine-based power plant situated in the BPDB compound, Puran Bogura under Bogura Sadar upazila in Bogura District of Bangladesh (Location: 24.8408, 89.3515). It was sponsored by GBB Power Limited, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of GBB Group, as a Rental Power Plant (RPP) for 15 years. The sponsor declared its Commercial Operation Date (COD) on 17 June 2008 and, as per schedule, it was retired on 16 June 2023.
Capacity
The installed (gross) and derated (net) capacity of the power plant was 24 MW and 22 MW respectively.
Context
On October 17, 2006, GBBPL was established as a Private Limited Company in Bangladesh with the primary aim of constructing power plants under the Build-Own-Operate model to produce electricity. The intention was to sell this generated power to the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB). Commercial operations (COD) began on June 17, 2008 (GBBPL, 2018). GBB Power, founded in 2006, formed a joint venture with Caledonian Power to establish a power plant. The joint venture secured a 15-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with BPDB, resulting in the construction of a 20 MW power plant in Bogura, which commenced its commercial operations in 2008. In 2012, GBB Power's subsidiary became publicly listed on the stock market. Despite attempting to obtain approval for the construction of additional power plants, the company faced challenges and was unsuccessful. According to company sources. On 16 June 2023, GBB Power ceased operations of its 20MW natural gas-fired power plant after being directed to do so by the Bangladesh Power Development Board following the expiration of a 15-year power purchase agreement. Nonetheless, the company has taken steps to request an extension of the electricity supply contract to the power division of the Ministry of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources (MoPEMR). According to the company's filing on 18 June 2023, the application is currently being reviewed and considered (Financial Express, 2023).
Land acquisition
The estimated land area of the power plant is 0.93 acres ~ 1 acre (Calculated from Google Earth).
Finance
Bank Asia Ltd, alongside nine other banks provided a syndicated term loan of Tk 84 crore for GBB Power Ltd. The funds supported the establishment of a 20-MW power plant in Bogura, which was anticipated to cost around Tk 120 crore (Daily Star, 2007). During the nine months ending in March of the year 2023, the power plant experienced a 7.80% decrease in profits, amounting to Tk 81.50 million. The decline in earnings was primarily attributed to the increase in gas prices starting in January. As a result, the plant's gas expenses surged by 137%, reaching nearly Tk 131 million in the January-March period, significantly impacting the profits gained in the preceding two quarters (Financial Express, 2023).
Sponsors
GBB Power entered into a joint venture agreement with Caledonian Power Limited to set up a power plant. The joint venture entered into a PPA agreement with BPDB for 15 years (Business Standard, 2023).
Contractors
The company arranged Gas generator sets from Germany’s MWM (GBBPL, 2022).
Fuel Supply
The supply of gas for the power plant was provided by Pashchimanchal Gas Company Limited (PGCL) (GBBPL, 2022).
Power Generation
The company ensured a continuous supply of electricity, delivering at least 21.03MW to BPDB's 33KV regional grid (GBBPL, 2018).
Capacity Charge
From 200 to 2023, this powerplant generated a total of 2310.85 gWh power which has cost a total of BDT 718.63 crore with a per unit cost of BDT 3.11. A total of BDT 350.93 crore of Capacity Charge was given to this powerplant.
Year | Generation (GWh) | Total Cost | Unit Cost | Capacity |
FY 2022-2023 | 0.00 | BDT 0.00 crore | BDT 0.00 | BDT 0.00 crore |
FY 2021-2022 | 167.47 | BDT 68.55 crore | BDT 4.09 | BDT 30.36 crore |
FY 2020-2021 | 167.499 | BDT 65.69 crore | BDT 3.92 | BDT 28.97 crore |
FY 2019-2020 | 133.17 | BDT 57.98 crore | BDT 4.35 | BDT 27.78 crore |
FY 2018-2019 | 161.98 | BDT 51.93 crore | BDT 3.21 | BDT25.85 crore |
FY 2017-2018 | 169.81 | BDT 54.99 crore | BDT 3.24 | BDT 6.95 crore |
FY 2016-2017 | 173.5 | BDT52.69 crore | BDT 3.04 | BDT 26.25 crore |
FY 2015-2016 | 176.90 | BDT 51.72 crore | BDT 2.92 | BDT 27.04 crore |
FY 2014-2015 | 170.95 | BDT 49.84 crore | BDT 2.92 | BDT 24.67 crore
|
FY 2013-2014 | 165.52 | BDT 48.09 crore | BDT 2.91 | BDT 24.65 crore |
FY 2012-2013 | 166.97 | BDT 46.19 crore | BDT 2.77 | BDT 23.69 crore |
FY 2011-2012 | 165.36 | BDT45.98 crore | BDT 2.78 | BDT23.34 crore |
FY 2010-2011 | 171.55 | BDT 45.80 crore | BDT 2.67 | BDT 22.46 crore |
FY 2009-2010 | 149.75 | BDT 40.14 crore | BDT 40.14 | BDT 20.13 crore |
FY 2008-2009 | 137.11 | BDT 34.81 crore | BDT 2.54 | BDT 18.05 3 crore |
FY 2007-2008 | 33.31 | BDT 4.22 crore | BDT 1.27 | BDT 0.72 crore |
Total | 2,310.85 | BDT 718.63 crore | BDT 3.11 | BDT 350.93 crore |
Environment
According to Section 12 of the 1995 Bangladesh Environment Protection Act, it is obligatory for industries, including those causing pollution like power plants, to undergo both an Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) and an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) as outlined in the 2017 Environmental Conservation Rules (MOLJPA 1995; MOEFCC 1997). However, there has been no instance of either an IEE or EIA report being conducted for the power plant until now.
Criticism
GBB Power Ltd. accumulated unsettled invoices totaling BDT 3.29 crore for the gas obtained from Pashchimanchal Gas Company Limited (PGCL) between May and September of this current year. Although GBB Power Limited utilized gas valued at BDT 5.26 crore, including additional charges, during this period to generate electricity for the national power grid, the mentioned sum has not been cleared, as per insiders from PGCL's financial department (Daily Star, 2009). GBB is being fined BDT 4.35 crore in Bangladeshi currency and $640,000 for the delay in their 20MW Bogura rental project (Daily Star, 2009). The company once again failed to settle its outstanding payments, amounting to BDT 7.18 crore, for both gas consumption and Higher Heating Value (HHV) charges from Pashchimanchal Gas Company Ltd (PGCL). This non-payment situation constitutes a breach of the agreements between PGCL and GBB Power Ltd (Daily Star, 2010).
References
TBS (2023). “GBB Power plant to expire in June, investors dump shares”. The Business Standard (TBS): 13 February, 2023
The Daily Star (2007). “Bank Asia arranges Tk 84cr for GBB Power”. The Daily Star: 22 August 2007.
The Daily Star (2009). “GBB Power of Bogura big gas bill defaulter”. The Daily Star: 17 November 2009.
The Daily Star (2009). “PDB claims $9m from 3 rental power firms”. The Daily Star: 13 January 2009.
The Daily Star (2010). “GBB Power of Bogura bill defaulter again”. The Daily Star: 18 July 2010.
FE (2023). "GBB Power shut the power plant as the contract expired". The Financial Express (FE): 18 June, 2023
FE (2023). "GBB Power eyes "no power, no payment" deal to restart electricity plant". The Financial Express (FE): 19 June, 2023
GBBPL (2018). “Profile of GBB Power Limited”. GBBPL: undated (accessed on 6 August 2023)
GBBPL (2022). “Annual Report: 2021-2022”. GBBPL: December 2023 (accessed on 6 August 2023)
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