Current Status: Operation
Source: (Paramount BTrac Energy Ltd)
Baghabari 200 MW Diesel Power Plant, also known as Paramount-BTrac Power Plant, is a reciprocating engine-based power plant situated at Baghabari Upazila in Sirajganj District of Bangladesh (Location: 24.1331, 89.5949). It is sponsored by Paramount BTrac Energy Limited, a joint venture company (JVC) of Paramount Group and Bangla Trac Limited (BTrac), as a private Independent Power Producer (IPP) for five years. The sponsor declared its Commercial Operation Date (COD) on 16 February 2019 and, as per schedule, the power plant will retire on 15 February 2024.
Capacity
The installed (gross) and derated (net) capacity of the power plant is 216 MW and 200 MW respectively.
Context
In 2017, Paramount Textile Limited (PTL) decided to form a new power plant, having formed a partnership between Paramount Textile and Acron Infrastructure to construct a 200 MW power plant using engines powered by high-speed diesel (HSD) in Baghabari of Sirajganj. This project was carried out under Build, Own, and Operate (BOO) basis. The power plant is located in Baghabari, Sirajganj, and falls under the administration of the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB).
The government has set to approve this 200 MW diesel-based power plant in Baghabari, Sirajganj. Insider information suggests that the proposal for the plant was put forth by the Paramount Bangla Track Consortium. The consortium has suggested a power rate of Tk 19.96 per unit from the BPDB, in contrast to the existing consumer price of Tk 6 per unit (Shahid,2018)
In Paramount BTrac Energy (PBEL), PTL (Paramount Textile Limited) holds a 49% ownership stake. This power plant commenced its operations in February 2019. Furthermore, PTL has expanded its activities to include dredging operations through the establishment of a subsidiary named Paramount Dredging Ltd. PTL holds a controlling interest of 65% in this subsidiary company (TBS Report, 2022).
Land Acquisition
By using Google Earth Pro it is found that the Baghabari 200 MW HSD power plant of Paramount BTrac Energy (PBEL) covers around 5.28 acre area.
Finance
Paramount Textile as a lead member of the company will contribute approximately 50% of the paid-up share capital to the consortium's overall equity and Acron Infrastructure Services, the operating member, will provide the remaining 50% (Financial Express, 2018).
Sponsor
The power plant is sponsored by Paramount BTrac Energy Limited, a joint venture company (JVC) of Paramount Group Bangla Trac Limited (BTrac), and Acorn Infrastructure.
Contractor
As per the most recent report, Acron Infrastructure Services will be responsible for the operational process of the power plant (FE Report, 2018).
Fuel Supply
HSD is used to generate the power of this power plant. According to Bangladesh Power Development Board's daily electricity generation data, the power plant has no electricity generation in most of the days of 2023 due to the cause of fuel shortage (BPDB).
Power Generation
The expected power generation capacity will be 200 MW and the net energy generation capacity of the power plant’s lifetime is 3.67 GWh.
Environment
Under Section 12 of the 1995 Bangladesh Environment Protection Act, industries, including those that generate pollution such as power plants, are mandated to undergo both an Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) and an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) as specified in the 2017 Environmental Conservation Rules (MOLJPA 1995; MOEFCC 1997). Surprisingly, no IEE or EIA report has been carried out for the power plant up to this point.
Criticism
The generation cost of this power plant is very high. According to the contract, if the scheduled commencement of commercial operations is not met, compensation would be offered at a rate of $200 per megawatt for every day of delay which costs a lot as it does not fulfill its installed capacity. When the agreement was signed the dollar price was 85 and the current has increased to 110.30 Tk (14 October, 2023). Similarly, the diesel price was 65 which has increased to 114 in 2022. The owners of six diesel-fired power plants including the Baghabari 200 MW Diesel Power Plant were paid $1.03 billion or Tk 11,281.5 crore as a capacity charge which will further increase with the passing time (Business Standard, 2023).
References
Shahid (2018). 200-MW ‘costly’ diesel-based power plant on the cards. The Independent. 06 February, 2018.
TBS Report (2022). The power plant of Paramount Textile’s subsidiary starts commercial operation. 28 August,2022.
TBS (2023). 6 diesel-fired plants to shut by year-end, saving Tk2,250cr annually. The Business Standard, 10 August 2023.
FE Report (2018).Paramount Textile to form a new consortium. The Financial Express, 5 January 2018.
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