Fresh repairs are required to the systems that keep a damaged liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal moored, thus the process of re-connecting it to the national grid is expected to take longer than expected.
The State Minister for Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources, Nasrul Hamid, stated that the repairs would take at least 10 days to finish.
“We hoped to complete the repairs by this month (July), but it didn’t happen,” he said in response to journalists’ queries after a programme at the capital’s Biddyut Bhaban.
After having its ballast tank, which was damaged by the cyclone on 27th May, repaired, Summit LNG Terminal Co (Pvt) Ltd’s floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), which was originally located at Moheshkhali, Cox’s Bazar, returned from Singapore on July 10.
As a result of Excelerate’s single operational FSRU, the amount of LNG supplied to the national grid has decreased to half, causing uneven gas supply in several districts, including Chattogram and Dhaka.
The Power Division and Sonagazi Solar Power inked two agreements during the program on Wednesday.
In Chittagong’s Mirsarai upazila, a 50 MW solar power plant was to be established; the other arrangement concerned the purchase of electricity.
“The power plant was supposed to be set up in Feni’s Sonagazi but due to non-availability of land, it was shifted to Chattogram,” said Habibur Rahman, secretary to the Power Division.
He said the letter of intent to set up the plant was issued in 2018 but the implementation has been delayed due to the issues over acquiring the land.
Under the agreement, the German company ib vogt will set up the power plant to provide electricity to the national grid for 20 years at a cost of US $ 0.1094 per unit (kWh-Kilowatt hour).
