State-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) has failed to invite open tenders for setting up 10 grid-connected solar power plants in the private sector despite a top-level decision by the power department as part of renewable energy expansion.
A source who did not wish to be named said that although the interim government gave the highest priority to this decision, the concerned officials could not complete the preparation for calling for tenders.
Earlier, the power department directed the BPDB to invite tenders for construction of 10 grid-connected solar power plants with a capacity of 50 MW in the private sector and a total capacity of 500 MW.
According to sources, the interim government has decided not to enter into any further contracts under the Electricity and Energy Supply (Special) Act, 2010. This step of the tender is in view of this.
As a result, the future of 34 proposed private sector grid-connected solar power projects has become uncertain. Earlier, BPDB had issued Letter of Intent (LOI) for the tender during the previous Awami League government.
BPDB selects these firms through the ‘unexpected offer’ process under the Rapid Power and Energy Supply Capacity Expansion (Special) Act, 2010.
Under this Act, the government can award project contracts to any private sector organization without a tender process.
Energy experts criticized this special law as the root cause of all the corruption and irregularities in the power and energy sector during the Awami League government.
They complained that many ineligible private companies have been given power plant projects. As a result the cost has increased significantly and the annual loss of the sector is Rs 70 thousand crore.
As a result, after the fall of the Awami League government in the coup d’etat. The Yunus-led interim government took over and decided to suspend the Act and not enter into any further contracts under the Rapid Power and Energy Supply Capacity Expansion Act (Special), 2010.
The government’s interim energy adviser. Muhammad Fawzul Kabir Khan announced this decision immediately after taking charge of the Ministry of Power and Energy and said that all future projects will be implemented through open tender process.
The decision, however, put private buyers in jeopardy, who were roped in for 34 solar projects. They had already spent a lot of money to acquire land and get LOI to build the centre.
In this situation, they expressed interest in getting these projects through competitive bidding process and getting contracts through open bidding.
Senior Secretary of Power Department Habibur Rahman told UNB, ‘We have initially decided to invite tenders for setting up 50 MW solar projects based on location. A competitive bidding process for those who have already bought land will help get the project going.’
He also said that the government is trying to implement solar power projects as part of renewable energy promotion.
The private entrepreneurs will set up the centers at their own cost and BPDB will purchase power from the private centers for a fixed period.
The Power Secretary said, ‘BPDB will soon invite tenders for several grid-based solar projects of 50 MW capacity each. Mostly those places will be chosen where power transmission facility with grid substations will be available.’
However, he did not give any details about where the centers will be set up.
A senior official of BPDB mentioned that basically Independent Power Producer (IPP) cell-1 is working on preparation of tender documents and site selection.
IPP Cell-1 director Shamsujjoha Kabir did not respond to repeated calls on the mobile phone