Adani power: Won’t be pricier than local plants’

A delegation of Adani Power yesterday told officials of the Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB) that its electricity price will not be higher than that of Bangladeshi coal-fired power plants, including Payra and Rampal.

The Adani delegation, which included its Managing Director Anil Sardani and the CEO, had a meeting with PDB officials at the Bidyut Bhaban yesterday afternoon for more than an hour.

Four members of the delegation flew in for the meeting.

They discussed the coal pricing system of India's Adani Godda Power Plant, which is going to start its commercial operations next month, a source in the Adani delegation told The Daily Star.

Bangladesh will start importing 750MW of power from the plant next month.

"We placed a way to make discounts factor into the pricing formula," the source said.

The delegation said Adani cannot revise the Power Purchase Agreement as it involves their lenders.

A number of PDB officials, including members of company affairs and finance, were present in the meeting, reports UNB, quoting an anonymous top official of PDB.

The issue of the meeting was kept secret as it was sensitive for both sides, UNB wrote.

Sources said both sides heard each other's points and arguments in favour of them and expressed interest in virtual follow-up meetings.

The Adani delegation said they would communicate PDB's stance on coal pricing mechanism to their top management.

"We're hopeful that Adani will finally accept Bangladesh's request for revising the PPA [Power Purchase Agreement] to set a new coal pricing mechanism," the PDB official told UNB.

The Adani team later met the PDB chairman.

Earlier, Bangladesh sought a revision of the PPA it signed with Adani Power Ltd for importing electricity from Adani Godda Power Plant in 2017.

However, Adani Power said it could not revise the agreement but could give discounts on the coal price.

The cost incurred to import the coal, including transportation cost from port to plant, will ultimately be borne by Bangladesh.

An analysis of the Power Cell of the energy ministry revealed in January that the government pays $245 for a tonne of coal for the Payra plant, $254.38 for the S Alam power plant in Banshkhali and gthe Rampal power plant in Baerhat, and $270 for the Barishal coal-fired power plant. It estimated that the Adani plant's coal price would be $346 per tonne.