This was the eighth time the plant was forced to shut down since it started electricity generation in its 660MW first unit in mid-December, 2022. Three shut-downs were because of a coal shortage, and five were because of technical problems, officials at the power plant said. Frequent closures of the base-load power plant left power experts utterly surprised, raising suspicion about the quality of machineries used in the plant.

The experts also expressed their worries about the stress created on the national grid by the frequent closures of the power plant, saying that they put the entire national grid at risk. ‘The plant’s machine reliability appears to be very poor,’ said Mahmud Abdul Matin Bhuiyan, who teaches electrical and electronic engineering at Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology. ‘Such frequent closures indicate the plant’s inability to burn the minimum amount of fuel that a base-load power plant must keep for running smoothly,’ he said. The plant’s latest shut-down was caused by what plant authorities said fly ash piling inside. Fly ash is a product of coal combustion inside the boiler that is captured and removed from the boiler using filtration equipment in modern coal-fired power plants.

The Rampal power plant uses supercritical technology, which the government boasted about when the plant faced widespread opposition at home and abroad because of its potentially harmful impacts on the Sunderbans in close proximity. Monitoring fly ash is an essential part of power plant operation because it provides a glimpse into whether everything went as planned inside the boiler, experts said. ‘Piling of fly ash to the point of causing the plant’s shut down is something that rarely happens,’ said Matin Bhuiyan. Why the fly ash was not captured and released might also lead to questions about the quality of coal being used in the plant, said Abdul Hasib Chowdhury, who teaches electrical and electronic engineering at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. He said that the production of fly ash is equally related to coal quality, adding that worse coal could produce more fly ash.

‘More fly ash could also mean less burning,’ he said. The 1,320 Rampal power project, which is about to launch its second unit of 660MW this year, is a joint venture between India and Bangladesh and was implemented with $2 billion, including $1.6 billion provided as loans by the Exim Bank of India. The plant was one of the government’s first mega power projects, supposed to be completed by 2018. Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, India’s largest government-owned power generation equipment manufacturer, built the power plant. The Rampal power plant closures have generated speculation about its machin Wazed Ali Sarder, who is in charge of power generation at the Bangladesh Power Development Board, however, does not consider the shut-downs faced by the Rampal power plant too many.

‘This is normal. This plant is made by humans. There can be problems,’ said Wazed Ali.‘I believe the plant will gradually stabilise,’ he said. But that is not how technology works, energy experts said, citing the loss generated by frequent closures and restarts of a power plant. Every restart needs a huge amount of fuel, they said, which Bangladesh cannot afford amid the ongoing dollar crisis.

Bangladesh has kept many of its power plants out of operation because of a lack of energy, which is mostly imported. Officials at the PDB seeking anonymity said that the plant was built with low-quality machines, and they were never allowed to test the machines before their installation. Md. Shahjahan, a Khulna University of Engineering and Technology professor who teaches electrical and electronic engineering, said that a brand new power plant should operate without any problems for two years.

‘Technical problems should have been overcome during test transmission,’ he said. Test transmission is a stage at which a newly built power plant is synchronised with the national grid, allowing power producers to find out problems before they begin commercial operation. A power plant should run a test transmission for at least 90 days before becoming fully operational, PDB officials said, adding that the test transmission could extend up to 120 days. Shahjahan also ruled out administrative incompetence resulting in the frequent closures of the Rampal power plant, saying that the people involved in it are highly experienced and skilled.

Rampal faced its first shut-down on January 14 due to a coal shortage, which left the power plant out of operation for about a month. The coal shortage closed the plant again on April 23 and July 30 for about three and two weeks, respectively. Technical problem-induced closures occurred on April 15, June 30, July 13 and 16, and September 15. After closures due to technical problems, the power plant authorities said that the plant needed maintenance without explaining why.

Media reports said that the closures were because of boiler tube leakage and problems with the filter, electrical generator, and turbine. The first unit of the Rampal power plant is mostly operated at half capacity – 300MW. The Payra thermal power plant, in operation since 2020, ran smoothly almost without any technical problems causing it to suspend operation. On Monday, the Payra power plant ran at its full capacity of 1,244MW. Rampal, on the other hand, after resuming operation after four days of gap, produced 233MW. Bangladesh’s current installed capacity is 24,911MW. But electricity generation remains below around 13,000MW. Experts said that it was high time that Rampal machineries were tested and its suppliers were asked to explain the problems. ‘A base-load power plant frequently going on and off puts the national grid under a lot of stress,’ said Matin Bhuiyan. ‘The sudden loss of base load could have a cascading effect on other power plants, leading to a grid failure,’ he said.

News Link: Frequent closures of Rampal power plant raise eyebrows