Gas supply cut off at Regent Power over outstanding bills

Gas supply to Regent Power Limited's Ghorashal plant in Narsingdi and Barabkunda plant in Chattogram has been cut off over outstanding bills for seven months, worth Tk60 crore.

Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited, which supplies gas to the Ghorashal plant, cut off the supply on 14 May.

Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Limited, which distributes gas in Chattogram, cut off the supply to the Barabkunda plant on 18 May. 

The plants have not paid gas bills since October last year, of which, Titas Gas's receivable is around Tk53 crore while Karnaphuli Gas's receivable is Tk7 crore, said sources at Petrobangla.

"Gas supply will not resume to the power plants until we receive the outstanding bills," said Engr Md Kamruzzaman Khan, acting managing director of Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Limited.

Most of the gas supplied to the Chattogram area is imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) which is very costly and cash-payment driven. So, dues at the consumers' level make the LNG import difficult, added Kamruzzaman Khan.

Commissioned in 2009, Regent Power Limited's Barabkunda 22-MW plant consumes around five million cubic feet of gas per day.

Sumit Ranjan Barua, head of Finance of Regent Power Limited, said that they could not pay the bills as the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) that purchases electricity from the plants has not made electricity payments.

"We make money by selling power to the BPDB. If BPDB stops paying us, how can we pay the energy bills to the gas suppliers?" he added.

From BPDB, the Ghorashal plant's receivable is Tk140 crore while the Barabkunda plant's receivable is Tk19 crore, he said.

"On Sunday, we paid bills up to February this year. We are trying to get the gas supply back soon," Ranjan Barua added.

Regent Power Limited is a private limited company which is a concern of the Habib Group of Chattogram. The group has another power plant named Ghorashal 108MW.

Not only to Regent Power Limited, BPDB owes around Tk17,000 crore to all the independent power producers, which bars the power producers from paying gas bills and fuel imports for the plants.