The state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) has chalked out plans to build the country’s first naphtha-based power plant in Chittagong, but has not ensured its primary fuel sources. According to the BPDB, a tender has been floated to build a naphtha-based power project. It will require around 250 metric tonnes of naphtha every day to operate.“The project proposal said the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) is the primary source of naphtha. But the amount of naphtha it produces per day will not be sufficient, and more is needed to properly run this project,” a Power Division official explained. Naphtha is a by-product of the refining process of crude oil. The BPC currently exports heavy naphtha to the spot market once every couple of months.
According to the BPC, Eastern Refinery Limited, the country’s lone refinery, now produces around 100,000 metric tonnes of naphtha per year. Its capacity is scheduled to be enhanced.
“Naphtha is a dirty fuel, it causes massive air pollution. The BPDB’s technical team earlier said this is a ‘bad project’ in all respects,” a senior official of the Power Division said.
“If we have to procure it from abroad, then we need to know all the details, such as from where we can get it, its price, etc. However, we have no idea about it,” he added. He also said, “We don’t know anything about naphtha and anything about the expansion of the Eastern Refinery.”
A BPDB spokesperson said the naphtha-based power project is being taken up against the backdrop of the shortage of natural gas and escalating operational costs of plants run on diesel and furnace oil.
According to the official, the BPDB has floated a tender to set up the 65-85 megawatt (MW) power plant project on a build, own and operate (BOO) basis. The plant will be designed as a dual fuel-run one, having the option to generate electricity using natural gas as well.
A senior official of the energy ministry said the country’s output of naphtha will also increase further as an expansion plan is under way to raise the capacity of the Eastern Refinery to refine 4.5 million tonnes of crude oil per year. Besides, efforts have also been initiated to build another refinery with a capacity of 4-5 million tonnes per year, he added.
Eastern Refinery Ltd. (ERL) is a subsidiary of the state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), which has an annual capacity to refine 1.5 million tonnes of crude oil.
-With The Independent input
