Although many of the newly-built factories at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar (BSMSN) in Feni District are fully ready for starting production, shortage of adequate power supply is causing delay in this regard.
BSMSN is one of the state-owned economic zones of the country which is being developed on 30,000 acres of land in three upazilas of Chattogram and Feni. The government is optimistic about the employment of 1.5 million people there in the next 15 years.
Large scale industries are being set up at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar (BSMSN) with the investment of more than a hundred industrial groups.
Even though the demand for electricity in those factories is 230 KV, the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (REB), which is in charge of supplying electricity in the area, has a capacity of 132 KV and 33 KV. These industries are fully ready to go into production but there is a fear that production will be delayed due to supply of electricity.
It has learnt that hundreds of large industrial groups including Bangladesh Edible Oil Ltd, Bashundhara Group, TK Group, Nippon Steel Industries Limited, McDonald Steel Building Products Limited, Palmal Group, Berger, Walton and Hamko Corporation have already invested in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar of Mirsarai Economic Zone.
The construction work of factories of these organisations is going on in full swing and several industries are expected to be fully ready for production within this year. However, uninterrupted power supply is a distant dream.
Investors said the sensitive equipment of these factories requires quality and uninterrupted power supply through 230 KV lines. However, power of this voltage cannot be provided by any other supply organisation except Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB). Other power supply companies do not have infrastructure and experience to supply this power.
The investors also said the the authorities have not yet fixed the selling price of 230 KV voltage power.
As REB does not have the infrastructure and experience to sell 230 KV power, PDB has expressed interest in selling electricity directly to these companies through a tripartite (PDB-PGCB-Consumer) agreement.
In two letters sent on March 25, Power Development Board sought permission to sell 25 MW power directly to a chemical industry. The Industry will go into operation in next December with an annual production capacity of 144,000 metric tons.
Permission has also been sought to sell 190 MW of electricity directly to a multi-steel industry which will go into production in June of next year with a production capacity of 1.25 million metric tonnes.
The letter, signed by Saiful Islam Azad, secretary of the power development board, said the tariff order issued by the BERC did not fix any tariff for REB for wholesale electricity at the 230 KV level.
As REB does not have 230/132 KV infrastructure in the area adjacent to Mirsarai Economic Zone, there is no opportunity for it to connect 230/132 KV subscribers as per BERC guidelines. According to Section 26 of the Electricity Act 2018, the government may, by written order and subject to appropriate regulations, allow a licensee to supply electricity to any person outside its supply area and perform construction work.
Many factories in REB area depend on captive power which increases the cost of production.
About application submitted to get electricity from PDB, the industrialist said that he has proposed to set up lines and substations to get power from the grid to the factory at their own cost.
“The sooner we get approval, the sooner we will be able to start work. Otherwise, it will not be possible to start the factory on time which will hamper the investment” he said.
