Unprepared port propels Payra power’s imported coal price | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Food
    • Habitat
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Multimedia
    • TBS Graduates
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Tech
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Sunday
December 10, 2023

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Food
    • Habitat
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Multimedia
    • TBS Graduates
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Tech
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2023
Unprepared port propels Payra power’s imported coal price

Infrastructure

Eyamin Sajid
18 September, 2019, 10:05 am
Last modified: 18 September, 2019, 12:24 pm

Related News

  • There's a way to quit coal without wrecking jobs and communities
  • Lighter vessel carrying 800 tonnes of coal sinks in Mongla
  • Another ship with 65,000 tonnes of coal for Matarbari power plant arrives
  • World oil, gas, coal demand to peak by 2030, IEA says
  • Green group sues Australian minister over coal's impact

Unprepared port propels Payra power’s imported coal price

As the port is not ready, cargos carrying coal will come half-loaded and we will have to pay the full charge, which means a doubling of costs

Eyamin Sajid
18 September, 2019, 10:05 am
Last modified: 18 September, 2019, 12:24 pm

The Payra coal-fired power plant is importing the first batch of coal from Indonesia today for its test run — but at a higher transportation cost.

A large ship with a capacity of 70,000 tonnes will carry only 30,000 tonnes of coal to a jetty near the Payra deep seaport.

The freighter cannot bring coal to its full capacity because the port does not have a deep enough draft to handle heavy ships.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

Project sources said the price for transporting this amount of coal will stand at around $25 to $27 per tonne, although it would be $18 if 70,000 tonnes could be imported at a time.

This implies that Bangladesh will have to pay the additional charge as penalty for unutilised capacity.

The authorities concerned could not rent a smaller ship as all long-haul ships for carrying coal have a 70,000-tonne capacity each.

The 1320-megawatt Payra power plant, set for partial generation from next December, will have to pay an extra cost of around $36 million annually for coal transportation until the Payra port is ready to operate as a deep seaport.

This will increase the cost of the project as well as the per unit electricity generation, as per the project implementation agency.

PT Bayan Resources Tbk, an Indonesia-based coal mining company, is supplying the coal under an agreement with the Bangladesh-China Power Company Limited, the project implementing agency.

The country will import four million tonnes of coal annually for this plant at a rate of $70 per tonne with another $18 as transportation cost.

"As the port is not ready, cargos carrying coal will come half-loaded and we will have to pay the full charge, which means a doubling of costs," said Shah Abdul Maula, project director of the Payra thermal power plant.

For a fully-loaded freighter to ply smoothly, there should be a 12 to 13 metre depth in the riverbed, which is now only four to five metres around the Payra port, he added.

The more alarming issue is that even a half-loaded ship during the dry season would not be able to anchor at the coal jetty due to poor navigability, he further said.

As a result, the ship will have to carry half its capacity, or else it will get stuck in the riverbed. 

On the other hand, if the ship comes with full capacity, it will have to anchor at the deep sea, and lighter boats would be required to unload the imported coal, hiking the cost even further.

The Payra Port Authority under the Ministry of Shipping has been working to construct the third seaport by 2021, in three phases, at Payra in Patuakhali, with Sonadia and Matarbari being the other two.

The port authority agreed that coal import will be costlier due to the unprepared port.

"The navigability of the port would improve within two years. Till then, the authorities need to anchor the mother vessel in the deep sea and have to use lighter boats to unload the coal," said Abdus Samad, secretary to the Ministry of Shipping.

Generally, the production cost of a unit of electricity is Tk5. But due to this costly imported coal, one kilowatt power generation at this station would cost more than Tk7.

Currently, the country has only one coal-fired power station at Barapukuria in Dinajpur, which has been operating with coal supply from the nearby coal mine.

Special Stories / Top News

Payra plant / coal

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Two-thirds of LPG sellers hold on to bulk importers to stay afloat in dollar crisis
    Two-thirds of LPG sellers hold on to bulk importers to stay afloat in dollar crisis
  • Adverse impact of geopolitics taking toll on Bangladesh's economy: FBCCI president
    Adverse impact of geopolitics taking toll on Bangladesh's economy: FBCCI president
  • Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) Chairman Prof Shibli Rubayat-Ul-Islam. TBS Sketch
    Floor price to remain until election: BSEC chairman

MOST VIEWED

  • Buyer's rep removes sanction clause from RMG LC
    Buyer's rep removes sanction clause from RMG LC
  • Photo: Collected
    Dhaka expressway construction crane hits train; rail link with capital snapped
  • Infographic: TBS
    Automatic fuel oil pricing from March in Bangladesh
  • The company signed an agreement to this effect with BEPZA at BEPZA Complex, Dhaka on 7 December. Photo: Courtesy
    Chinese company to set up pharma ingredients factory in Bepza EZ
  • Infograph: TBS
    RMG exports to US fall 24.75% in Jan-Oct
  • One report says the suspects were stripped to ensure they were not carrying weapons - EMANUEL FABIAN/X/TWITTER
    Palestinians detained by Israel in Gaza blindfolded, stripped to underwear

Related News

  • There's a way to quit coal without wrecking jobs and communities
  • Lighter vessel carrying 800 tonnes of coal sinks in Mongla
  • Another ship with 65,000 tonnes of coal for Matarbari power plant arrives
  • World oil, gas, coal demand to peak by 2030, IEA says
  • Green group sues Australian minister over coal's impact

Features

Say hello to my little friend: Scarface turns 40

Say hello to my little friend: Scarface turns 40

8h | Features
Tuhin Bin Salam has been at the helm of the business since his father died in 2017. Photo: Nayem Ali

60-year legacy: A chronicle of Salam Stamp Centre

20h | Panorama
Bangladesh now has 19 GI-certified products. What changed?

Bangladesh now has 19 GI-certified products. What changed?

1d | Panorama
Illustration: TBS

How financial institutions can help transition to net zero

1d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Cricket icon and ‘Tied Test’ hero Joe Solomon dies at 93

Cricket icon and ‘Tied Test’ hero Joe Solomon dies at 93

6h | TBS SPORTS
Onion prices skyrocketed due to India's export ban

Onion prices skyrocketed due to India's export ban

7h | TBS Today
Most capped footballers in professional football

Most capped footballers in professional football

9h | TBS SPORTS
How to overcome dollar crisis

How to overcome dollar crisis

9h | TBS Round Table
EMAIL US
[email protected]
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2023
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - [email protected]

For advertisement- [email protected]