Current Status: Operation
Juldha 100 MW Furnace Oil Power Plant (Unit 1), also known as Acorn Juldha Unit-1 Power Plant, is a reciprocating engine power plant situated in Dhangarchar of Juldha Union under Patiya Upazila in Chattogram District of Bangladesh (Location: 22.2968, 91.8053). It is operated by Acorn Infrastructure Services Limited (AISL), a subsidiary of Bangla Trac Limited, as a Quick Rental Power Plant (QRPP) for five years. The sponsor declared its Commercial Operation Date (COD) on 26 March 2012 and, as per schedule, it was to retire on 25 March 2017. The power plant was phased out on 25 March 2022 after operating for 10 years, but started operation for two more years again on 19 April 2022 under “No Electricity No Payment (NENP)" basis.
Capacity
The installed (gross) and derated (net) capacity of the power plant is 107.60 MW and 100 MW respectively.
Context
The Juldha Power Plant is situated in Dhangarchar, near Chattagram port in the Chattogram district of Bangladesh. It is approximately 5 kilometres away from the Agrabad Commercial Area and around 10 kilometres from the Chattogram International Airport. Chattogram is the second-largest city in Bangladesh and serves as the port capital. This power plant plays a crucial role in supplying electricity to the Chattogram division.
Located in the southeastern part of the country, close to Myanmar (Burma), the city of Chattogram was built along the banks of the Karnaphuli River, connecting to the Bay of Bengal. Acorn Infrastructure Service Ltd. received a Letter of Intent (LOI) from the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) on July 6, 2010, to establish a 100 MW Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) power plant in Juldha, Chattogram, with the aim of contributing to the national grid and meeting the country's power demand.
Following the announcement of commercial operation on March 26, 2012, ACORN's Juldha power plant became the most widely used HFO-based power plant in Bangladesh. It has been claimed that effectively reduced the cost of electricity generation and tariffs charged to the government (AIS, 2019). Initially, the Akron Infra Services' Juldha 100 MW power plant was set to expire in March 2017. However, it received a new contract, extending its operation until March of the following year. The power plant's contract eventually expired on March 25, 2022, but it resumed operation on April 19, 2022, under the No Electricity No Payment (NENP) method (Mehedi H., 2022).
Land Acquisition
Total land area of Juldha 100 MW power plant is about 0.3 acres (Calculated from Google Earth).
Sponsor
Juldha 100 MW HFO based Quick Rental Power Plant (QRPP) is sponsored by Acorn Infrastructure Service Limited under Bangla Trac Limited.
Contractor
The EPC contractor of this power plant is LTL Global Engineering (Pte) Ltd (AGA, 2019).
Power generation
Total power generation from 2011-2012 to 2021-22 is 4400.62 gWh. The average unit cost of production is BDT 13.50. The total cost of the power plant till 2022-23 is BDT 5613.47 crore.
Environment
The Power Plant is situated in on the Karnaphuli River bank an area which is highly corrosive. It is 3.0 km away from the sea. Due to its proximity to the Bay of Bengal, the area experiences extreme weather conditions throughout the entire year. To withstand these severe environmental conditions, the power plant required practically all steel structures galvanized (AGA, 2019). As the area is critical it is not safe for the environment to build the plant in the first place.
Capacity Charge
Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) had to pay the sponsor BDT 1,493.03 crore as a daily capacity charge till 2020-2021.
References
AGA (2019). “Acorn Infrastructure 100 MW HFO Power Plant Chittagong, Bangladesh”. American Galvanizers Association (AGA): 2019
AIS (2019). “Acorn Infrastructure Services Ltd”. Acorn Infrastructure services (AIS): 2019.
Mehedi, H. (2022). “BPDB Trapped by Expensive Rental Power Plants: Rental and Quick Power Plants must be phased out as soon as possible”. Bangladesh Working Group on External Debt (BWGED): March, 2022.
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