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Why Bangladesh’s new coal-fired power plant is still running out of coal

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One of the world’s newest and most controversial coal-fired power plants began operating in December. It stopped for a month in January. Again in April he sat idle for 23 days.

Reason: It had no coal to burn.

This meant that it could not generate any electricity or earn money to compensate for it It cost $2 billion to build.

The issues facing Maitree are a glimpse into the risks other new coal-fired power plants around the world could face in the coming years, for a variety of reasons. Maitree was temporarily closed due to lack of foreign currency to import coal from Indonesia. This was because the value of the Bangladeshi taka fell while commodity prices, including coal, rose sharply.

Other coal-fired plants elsewhere are at risk of being idled for years to come as coal could soon lose its appeal as the cheapest source of electricity.

As prices for renewable energy such as wind and solar fall, it will be harder to keep coal-fired power plants running, including new ones whose developers have yet to recoup their investments. (Maitree’s is expected to take 25 years.) In the case of publicly funded projects like this one, that could leave taxpayers footing the bill.

The country’s energy minister, Nasrul Hamid, strongly defended the decision to build the power plant. No one could have predicted the many challenges the project would face, he said in an interview, including the rising price of coal on the global market or the foreign exchange crisis his country was facing.

Whether from coal or another fuel, he said, Bangladesh needs affordable and reliable electricity to grow its industry. “It can be fossil fuel energy. Whatever it is, we need energy,” he said. “Every country has done it.

Despite its bullishness, Bangladesh, like many other countries in Asia, is soft on coal.

Mr. Hamid’s government canceled the construction 12 coal-fired power plants In last yearsand it aims to get 40 percent of its electricity from what it calls “clean energy” by 2040 (including gas, which is now its largest share of electricity). exploration of coastal windsand hydropower from Nepal.

India recently said it would put new coal-fired power plant projects on hold for the next five years. Elsewhere, old coal plants are slowly being retired and new projects are being scrapped, they said Global Energy Monitorwhich monitors the construction of coal-fired power plants.

The big outlier is China, which is building more coal-fired power plants than the rest of the world combined.

The 1,320-megawatt coal-fired project at Rampal has additionally been called into question because it is less than 10 miles upstream from the gateway to the world’s largest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans. AND UNESCO World Heritage Site, is home to the Bengal tiger, rare river dolphins and several species of mangroves. Environmentalists say the coal-fired power plant could harm the air and water in the area.

“It’s a good thing he’s sitting idle. It does not emit deadly gas,” said Sultana Kamal, a veteran environmentalist from Dhaka, during one of the recent shutdowns. “On the other hand, it’s a huge waste of public money. It just goes to show how poorly planned the whole thing was.”

Sail north along the Pashur River from the dense, dark tangle of the Sundarbans forest, first passing women waist-deep in water hauling nets to scoop up young shrimp to sell to shrimp farms inland. The villages are surrounded by mud that can crumble when there is a high tide or a storm.

It is also a busy industrial artery. On the banks of the river there are cement factories and onion tanks for storing imported gas. The port city of Mongla is dotted with factories sewing fast fashion for export.

Then there’s the 900-foot chimney of a coal-fired power plant, tipped with a bright red light.

Plant managers say they have taken measures against environmental risks. Coal is to be transported in covered barges to prevent the dispersion of coal dust. Gypsum, a byproduct of burning coal, is to be sold to cement plants. Ash ponds are to be covered. “We understand that this is a very sensitive area,” said general manager Bappaditya Sarkar.

The country’s introduction of coal reflects its diplomatic strategy. Maitree is a joint project with India’s state-owned National Thermal Power Corporation. A second coal-fired project has begun sending electricity to Bangladesh from a coal-fired power plant in India operated by Indian conglomerate Adani. China helped with two coal-fired power plants, in Barisal and Payra. Japan finances another, under construction in Matarbari.

It is for the citizens of Bangladesh the price of electricity for burning coal turned out to be much higher than expected. Also less reliable. No sooner had Maitree resumed operations in mid-May after securing foreign currency to pay its coal suppliers, the Payra power plant was closed, runs another state-owned enterprise, also temporarily, for lack of coal. Bangladesh is also reeling from power outages in the sweltering heat.

Another coal-fired power plant was to be built near Maitree. But its developers changed their mind. It is now the second largest solar farm in the country.

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