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Juldha 100 MW (Acorn) HFO Power Plant (Unit 1)

  • Dec 17, 2023
  • 4 min read

Current Status: Retired


Juldha 100 MW Furnace Oil Power Plant (Unit 1), also known as Acorn Juldha Unit-1 Power Plant, is a reciprocating engine power plant situated in Dhangarchar of Juldha Union under Patiya Upazila in Chattogram District of Bangladesh (Location: 22.2968, 91.8053). It is operated by Acorn Infrastructure Services Limited (AISL), a subsidiary of Bangla Trac Limited, as a Quick Rental Power Plant (QRPP) for five years. The sponsor declared its Commercial Operation Date (COD) on 26 March 2012 and, as per schedule, it was to retire on 25 March 2017. The power plant was phased out on 25 March 2022 after operating for 10 years, but started operation for two more years again on 19 April 2022 under  “No Electricity No Payment '' (NENP) basis. According to the latest BPDB annual  report, Juldha 100 MW (Acorn) HFO Power Plant (Unit-1) was retired on 18 August 2024 after operating under a No Electricity No Payment (NENP) arrangement following the expiry of its original Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) (BPDB, 2025).


Capacity

The installed (gross) and derated (net) capacity of the power plant is 107.60 MW and 100 MW respectively.


Context

The Juldha Power Plant is situated in Dhangarchar, near Chattagram port in the Chattogram district of Bangladesh. It is approximately 5 kilometres away from the Agrabad Commercial Area and around 10 kilometres from the Chattogram International Airport. Chattogram is the second-largest city in Bangladesh and serves as the port capital. This power plant plays a crucial role in supplying electricity to the Chattogram division.


Located in the southeastern part of the country, close to Myanmar (Burma), the city of Chattogram was built along the banks of the Karnaphuli River, connecting to the Bay of Bengal. Acorn Infrastructure Service Ltd. received a Letter of Intent (LOI) from the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) on July 6, 2010, to establish a 100 MW Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) power plant in Juldha, Chattogram, with the aim of contributing to the national grid and meeting the country's power demand.


Following the announcement of commercial operation on March 26, 2012, ACORN's Juldha power plant became the most widely used HFO-based power plant in Bangladesh. It has been claimed that it effectively reduced the cost of electricity generation and tariffs charged to the government (AIS, 2019). Initially, the Akron Infra Services' Juldha 100 MW power plant was set to expire in March 2017. However, it received a new contract, extending its operation until March of the following year. The power plant's contract eventually expired on March 25, 2022, but it resumed operation on April 19, 2022, under the No Electricity No Payment (NENP) method (Mehedi H., 2022).


Land Acquisition

The total land area of Juldha 100 MW power plant is about 0.3 acres (Calculated from Google Earth).


Sponsor

Juldha 100 MW HFO based Quick Rental Power Plant (QRPP) is sponsored by Acorn Infrastructure Service Limited under Bangla Trac Limited. 


Contractor

The EPC contractor of this power plant is LTL Global Engineering (Pte) Ltd (AGA, 2019).


Power generation

Total power generation from 2011-2012 to 2021-22 is 4400.62 gWh. The average unit cost of production is 13.50 BDT. The total cost of the power plant till 2022-23 is  5613.47 crore BDT.


Environment

According to Section 12 of the Bangladesh Environment Protection Act 1995, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is obligatory for any industry (MOLJPA 1995). Polluting industries, such as power plants, must undergo an Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) and EIA as directed in the Environmental Conservation Rules 2017 (MOEFCC 1997). But, to date, an IEE or EIA report has yet to be conducted for the power plant. The Power Plant is situated on the Karnaphuli River bank an area which is highly corrosive. It is 3.0 km away from the sea. Due to its proximity to the Bay of Bengal, the area experiences extreme weather conditions throughout the entire year. To withstand these severe environmental conditions, the power plant required practically all steel structures galvanized (AGA, 2019). As the area is critical it is not safe for the environment to build the plant in the first place. According to the environmental conservation rule 2023 the project falls in the “Red” indicating it as a potential harmful project for the environment (MOEFCC 2023).


Capacity Charge

Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) had to pay the sponsor BDT 1,493.03 crore as a daily capacity charge till 2020-2021.

Year

Generation (gWh)

Total Cost (crore BDT)

Unit Cost (avg BDT)

Capacity (crore BDT)

FY 2022-2023

0.00

0.00

0

0.00

FY 2021-2022

222.84

408.47

18.33

113.18

FY 2020-2021

189.94

313.29

16.49

143.21

FY 2019-2020

90.29

224.62

24.88

143.39

FY 2018-2019

364.85

480.04

13.16

127.42

FY 2017-2018

590.67

571.09

9.67

128.91

FY 2016- 2017

605.93

523.69

8.64

155.60

FY 2015-2016

538.23

437.54

8.13

171.28

FY 2014-2015

567.05

684.32

12.07

154.28

FY 2013-2014

584.39

900.47

15.41

155.07

FY 2012-2013

572.29

929.15

16.24

157.90

FY 2011-2012

74.14

140.79

18.99

42.79

Total

4400.62

5613.47

13.50

1493.03


References

 
 
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