Production of all the units of Dinajpur’s Barapukuria coal-based 525 MW power plant has been completely stopped. On Monday (September 9) at 6:30 in the evening, due to failure of the electro hydraulic oil pump, the production of unit number three was stopped.
Out of the 3 units of the power plant, the first and second units were shut down but the third unit was operational. From which 200 megawatts of electricity was being produced every day. That too closed on Monday evening. Chief Engineer of Barapukuria Coal Based Thermal Power Station confirmed this matter. Abu Bakr Siddique. After being closed for 1 month and 6 days earlier, last Friday (September 6) production started at 5:17 PM in Unit No. 3. Chinese contractor Harbin International was running the 525 MW Barapukuria coal-based thermal power plant using coal produced from the Barapukuria mine.
Their five-year contract will expire next year. According to the contract, minor repairs and supply of parts were supposed to be carried out to keep the production running, but the Chinese contractor did nothing. Due to which the power plant failed to be properly repaired even though there were repeated faults. And that’s why there are allegations that power generation is being disrupted.
Out of the three units of Barapukuria Thermal Power Station, each unit requires two electro-hydraulic oil pumps to operate. Which keeps the production running by supplying oil as fuel to that unit. But since 2022, as one of the two pumps in the third unit was broken, its production was running with an electro-hydraulic oil pump as an alternative, risking shutdown at any time. As a result, the production of thermal power plants was sometimes stopped due to mechanical faults. After informing the contracting company several times, they did not take it into consideration for unknown reasons. The unit was last commissioned on September 6 for repairs, but two days later, on Monday evening (September 9), all operations were halted due to a mechanical fault.
According to sources, 190 to 200 MW of electricity generated in the third unit was being supplied to the national grid. It requires 2,200 metric tons of coal per day to keep it running. The source further informed that the 125 MW unit number 2 of Barapukuria thermal power station with a production capacity of 525 MW has been closed since November 2020 for renovation work. Unit No. 2 has a capacity of 125 MW but the production was 65-70 MW.
Meanwhile, after 9 pm on Friday (September 6), the coal-fired 125 MW Unit No. 1 of the thermal power plant was shut down for renovation work. Unit number 1 has a capacity of 125 MW but the production was 60-65 MW. Due to the shutdown of three units at the same time, the source believes that the power supply will be disrupted in 8 districts of the northern region including Dinajpur. According to the relevant sources, currently there is 230 thousand metric tons of coal stored in the coal yard of Barapukuria coal mine. Daily supply of coal from Barapukuria coal mine is about 3 to 3500 metric tons. But keeping the three units of the thermal power plant operational requires about 4,800 metric tons of coal per day for normal production. But the three units were never run together. Barapukuria Thermal Power Station depends on coal supplied by Barapukuria Coal Mine.
Chief Engineer of Barapukuria Coal Based Thermal Power Station. Abu Bakr Siddique said on the phone that there are two electro-hydraulic oil pumps for each unit. Which keeps the production running by supplying oil as fuel to that unit. But since 2022, one of the two pumps in the third unit has failed. From then on, production operations were being carried out with a single pump at risk. But even after that one pump failed on Monday, it could not be started even after day-long efforts. As a result, production has been completely stopped.
He also said that the contracting company has been informed that they have asked for two weeks time. Production can start when the machine arrives from China.
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