At least 15 percent of the country's 71 independent power producers were sitting idle for 80 percent of the time last fiscal year, raising questions about their need.
Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB) purchased electricity from the mostly idle power plants at rates much higher than the average purchase price of Tk 14.62 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
The power plants that are sitting idle 80 percent of the time are: Raj Lanka Power, Summit Barisal Power, Bangla Trac Power Unit-1, Bangla Trac Power Unit-2, Aggreko Energy Solution Aowrahati, Aggreko Brahmangoan, APR Energy, United Mymensingh Power, Paramount Btrac Energy, BR Powergen Ltd, and United Payra Power.
The purchase price from the 11 power plants was between Tk 26.08 per kWh to Tk 56.33 per kWh.
"The reason behind the excessive unit cost is that the power plants were sitting idle," said Mohammad Tamim, dean of the chemical and material engineering department at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.
Even if a plant produces no electricity, it still gets its fixed costs. After dividing the total cost by the total power output, the unit price is fixed, which is higher for low output plants, Tamim said.
