Energy & Power

Snapshots

Drilling Update

Cairn Energy has completed the drilling of the Magnama-1 exploration well in Block 16 offshore Bangladesh.

Magnama-1 was drilled at a crystal location to a total depth of 4003m BRT with primary objective of evaluating the potential for gas in abnormally high pressured sand beneath those productive at Sangu and elsewhere in the basin.

The well encountered a series of well developed sands in the deepest section drilled but these were not gas charged and the well is now in the process of being plugged and abandoned. Magnama-1 also encountered a number of thin gas bearing sands which may be subject to further evaluation at a later date.

The Block 16 joint venture will next drill the Hatia-1 exploration well, which is located 12km north-west of Sangu. It is currently expected that drilling on Hatia-1 will commence shortly.

Meanwhile, the Cairn will start drilling in the Hatia-1 offshore exploration well of the Block 16 soon.

PGCB Signs Contract with Consortium of ABB & Energypac

Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) Ltd. has signed an agreement with consortium of ABB Ltd. India and Energypac Engineering Ltd. for supply and installation of shunt compensation at eight grid substations (132 KV) by Capacitor Bank on turn key basis.

The project value is US$ 6.3 million. Md. Salim Company Secretary of PGCB and Syed Arif Mahmud, General Manager of ABB signed the contract on behalf of their respective organizations. Harunur Rashid, MD of PGCB, Rabiul Alam CEO of Energypac Engineering Ltd and senior officials of PGCB, ABB and Energypac were present in the signing ceremony.

Installation of shunt capacitors at 132 KV level is first of this kind in Bangladesh. Execution of this project will greatly improve the voltage level and reduce system loss in the grid.

Energypac Engineering Ltd. a reputed local manufacturer of electrical equipment's will execute all local works and ABB Ltd. India a globally reputed engineering company will supply all the equipment's which includes High Voltage Capacitor Banks, Reactors, 132KV Switch gears with associated protection equipment's.

Draft Coal Policy Finalized

The expert committee for finalizing the draft coal policy has submitted the final draft to the Energy Division. Committee convener and former VC of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Abdul Matin Patwari handed over the draft to Energy Secretary, Mohammad Mohsin.

The final draft has discouraged coal export and recommended awarding coal exploration and development license to a state-run entity that can go for joint venture with private-sector companies of home and abroad through competitive bidding.

It also recommended mandatory installation of mine-mouth power plants, going for an open-pit coal mine as a test case, and forming a coal sector development committee to set the rate of royalty on the extracted coal time to time.

The Energy Division will now examine the recommendations made by the committee in the draft coal policy, before sending it to the Council of Advisors for approval.

The members of the committee were University Grants Commission Chairman Professor Nazrul Islam, BUET Professor Nurul Islam, Dhaka University Professor Badrul Imam, Bangladesh Army's Engineer-in-Chief Major General Ismail Faruque Chowdhury, senior journalist Ataus Samad, Centre for Policy Dialogue Executive Director Mustafizur Rahman, Petrobangla Director Maqbul-E-Elahi and former Director Ehsanullah, and Infrastructure Investment Facilitation Center Executive Director Nazrul Islam.

Chevron Helps Build Houses for Underprivileged

In a bid to help build low-cost and durable houses for underprivileged families, a group of 21 employees of Chevron Bangladesh recently took part in a two-day house building program in a village in Mymensingh.

Under the program run by Habitat for Humanity, the volunteers from the company assisted professional builders and homeowners in three different sites of Roghurampur village to build houses.

Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit international organization that builds partnerships with volunteers, families and communities to transform lives and revitalize neighborhood by enabling families in need to own affordable houses.

Chevron employees have been participating in house building programs since 2001 to extend support to Habitat volunteers, and so far worked in around 25 sites in Mymensingh, Haluaghat and Tangail.

PwC Carrying Out Power Sector Survey

The PriceWater House Coopers (PwC), a global consultant, has started carrying out a diagnostic study of the power sector of Bangladesh with a view to strengthening public-private partnership in the areas of electricity generation, distribution and transmission.

As part of the study, the consulting agency, commissioned by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), is now carrying out the survey among local investors to get their opinions about the "critical" issues concerning the power industry.

A five-member team of experts led by Nana Siviyam will prepare the study report and submit it to the ADB to help Bangladesh determine its future course of action.

The study will provide Bangladesh with a sense of direction on how to boost electricity generation, bring about more efficiency in the distribution system and foster innovation in the transmission mechanism.

IOCs Likely to be Exempted from Paying 'Tax-on-Tax'

The international oil companies (IOCs) operating in the country are likely to be exempted from paying 'tax-on-tax' from the next fiscal. In this regard, National Board of Revenue (NBR) has decided to issue an SRO that will take into effect from the next fiscal year.

The decision came from a recent meeting between NBR and the representatives of Energy Ministry, Petrobangla and Chevron.

NBR took the decision, as the state-owned Petrobangla and the US-based oil company Chevron are at loggerheads over the payment of Tk 300 million as 'tax-on-tax' to the public exchequer.

According to the existing provision, the government charges such tax on the amount of tax paid in previous year along with current year's income. Earlier, the Petrobangla Chairman in a letter to NBR requested the government to give a specific guideline in accordance with the income tax law to resolve the issue.

Move on to Abandon Damaged Titas Well

Bangladesh Gas Field Company Ltd (BGFCL) is going to permanently abandon its Brahmanbaria Titas Gas Field's faulty well no. 3 and has already started the procedure.

The experts concerned are trying to kill the well permanently. The entire process would cost at least $7.87 million and Tk 70.56 lakh in two phases.

The BGFCL authorities has hoisted a red flag and announced special notice asking everyone around not to be frightened as the process may create at least 20-to-25-foot high flames with roaring and deafening sounds.

The well was adding 30 million cubic feet gas to the national grid regularly. But the authorities started the termination process due to its faulty and abnormal functioning.

Govt Pre-qualifies 3 Cos for 450MW Sirajganj plant

The government has approved the selection of three international companies out of the five that had applied for pre-qualification to take part in the bidding for setting up the 330MW-450MW Sirajganj independent power plant.

The selected companies are the Korea Electric Power Corporation of South Korea, the AES Corporation of the United States and a consortium of the Powertek Berhad of Malaysia and the Siemens Project Ventures GmbH of Germany.

The tender evaluation committee, headed by Power Cell’s Director General Abdul Jalil, recommended the selection of these companies but disqualified a joint venture of the Summit Industrial Mercantile Corporation Ltd of Bangladesh and the GE Energy of the United States and the YTL Power International Berhad of Malaysia as they reportedly did not fulfill the pre-qualification criteria.

The Power Division has approved the tender evaluation committee’s recommendations.

The selected companies will be asked to submit technical and financial tenders soon for the power plant from where the Power Development Board will purchase electricity for 22 years after it is installed.

Spanish Firm Proposes Small N-Power plants

Spanish nuclear power developer company, Cala Casa Sl, has proposed to set up small units of nuclear power plants having a minimum electricity generation capacity of 20 megawatts (MW) in Bangladesh.

"The CCS has submitted an expression of interest (EoI) to the Energy and Power Advisor to install the small units of 'generation IV' nuclear power plants having simplified gas-cooled reactor (SGR)," said a senior Power Division official.

He said the Spanish company has named these small-scale nuclear power plants as SGR stations and intended to install the generation IV SGR stations as many as the government requires.

Elaborating the benefits of these nuclear plants the CCS termed the electricity generation from the proposed plants as 'highly reliable' capable to integrate with low voltage power grids.

"The SGR stations will easily meet the very high demand for power quality in the digital society," the CCS noted in its EoI.

The company said unit energy cost of nuclear power was comparable with power generated from coal at locations away from coal pits.

Electricity price to be generated from the SGR stations would be around Tk 2.50 per unit (1,000 kilowatt-hour), the company noted.
The lifetime of each of the SGR station would be 30 years.

Apart from generating electricity, one SGR station can produce about 5.0 million liters of drinking water per day, the CCS pointed out.

Seismic Survey to Start in Lawachara

US Company Chevron is all set to begin seismic survey in Lawachara Forest in the last week of this month.

Foreign experts will be involved in the survey work to ensure that there is minimal impact on the wildlife and the environment of the forest. The survey work will take place under the direction of the foreign experts along with local experts.

On the other hand, the government has also set up a monitoring committee to oversee the survey. Energy Secretary Mohammad Mohsin has said that they are hoping to find the much needed additional gas reserve that is essential for the country.

Lawachara Reserve Forest, located in Moulavibazar, is home to nearly 400 species of wildlife. This is the first time a seismic survey is being conducted in this forest.

Forest and Environment Ministry has approved the IEA for the survey work. Chevron and Petrobangla were granted approval to carry out the seismic survey together.

11 Consulting Firms Shortlisted to set up 3 power plants

The government has short listed eleven consulting firms for setting up three donor-funded power plants with a combined capacity of 660-megawatt (MW).

The government will set up a 360MW power plant at Haripur and 150MW plant each at Khulna and Sirajganj.

The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) has said it will finance the construction of Haripur power plant while the Asian Development Bank will give fund for building Sirajganj and Khulna plants.

Sources said the PDB has short listed five consulting firms for the Tk 35.07 billion Haripur 360MW power project, six firms for Tk 7.60 billion 150MW Khulna and Tk 6.84 billion 150MW Sirajganj power plant project.

One consulting firm will be appointed for supervising the installation of the 360MW plant at Haripur and another for Sirajganj and Khulna power plants, the sources added.

Totalgaz-Bangladesh Awarded Distributors

Award winner distributors and officials of Totalgaz-Bangladesh recently finished their trip to Paris, Geneva & Brussels under annual sales competition “Mission Paris Reloaded-07”. Award winner seven distributors and along with Totalgaz Finance Controller Towfiqul Haque, Deputy Sales Manager Sardar Jahangir Alam & Osman Ali are seen in the photo in front of world famous Eiffel Tower.