Payra, the country’s largest power plant, is on the verge of shutting down of production due to the coal crisis.
According to the media reports, importer CMC is not willing to provide coal without paying off the due worth of $300 million or $30 crore.
Media reports also said that the current stock will last a maximum of three weeks.
If the plant does not pay at least $100 million or $10 crores within the stipulated time, the power plant will have to be sat idly which can result in severe load shedding across the country.
Payra Power Plant, with a capacity of 1320 MW, is one of the major power stations in the country generating about 10% of the total power generation.
The requirement for the plant is 12,000 tonnes of coal to run this plant, all of which are imported by CMC from Indonesia.
But due to the dollar crisis, the non-payment of bills for the past six months reached more than $300 million or $30 crore and the importing company is not willing to invest in coal anymore.
Engineer Shah Abdul Mawla, project director of the plant, told the media that they have a due payment of over $300 million and their coal-providing partner no longer wants to invest because of the due.
Energy expert Dr. Badrul Imam said the proper ground study was not done on the capacity due to which this situation has arisen.
According to the media reports, a coal-laden ship arrived on Friday and another ship is scheduled to arrive on May 9.
After that, even if the payment is done, it will take 6 weeks for the arrival of another coal-laden ship, meaning the power plant is going to face a guaranteed crisis for about 2 weeks.
Currently, the Payra power plant is getting coal at $140 per ton.
However, the Rampal power station has been closed for the last 2 weeks due to a lack of coal.
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