Rooppur nuclear power plant: Power generation deferred

Although Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) is supposed to start commercially generating electricity from next December, this is not happening.

The first unit may go for electricity generation at the end of 2025.

Sources at the power plant authorities said the work of the project has been disrupted due to the Covid pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.

This is the largest of the government’s priority projects.

The work of transmission lines has also not been completed timely. Under such a circumstance, the tenure of the project was extended by two years at the meeting of the joint coordination committee held in Dhaka in February 2024.

Besides, in the wake of the dollar crisis, an additional agreement has been signed to pay the bill in taka instead of dollars in the beginning of this month to expedite the construction work. The Bangladesh government pays 10 per cent of the total annual allocation of the project.

Officials at the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant said the bill could not be paid due to the dollar crisis.

The country’s first nuclear power plant is being constructed at Rooppur in Pabna with the financial and technical support of Russia. The Atomic Energy Commission, under the science and technology ministry, is implementing the nuclear power plant project.

Under this project, the Russian contractor Atomstroyexport is constructing two units with 1200 MW power generation capacity each under this project.

Nearly 70 per cent of the project’s construction work has been completed. The tenure of the project was from July 2016 to December 2025. The deadline has been extended until December 2027.

The project work was officially inaugurated on 2 October 2013. The main work began in 2017.

As per plan, trial run of power generation from the first unit was supposed to start in December 2022 and the actual generation in December 2023. But, this was deferred to December 2024.

Electricity generation from the second unit was supposed to start in December this year. But this has been deferred to 2025. That means production of both the units has been deferred.

Officials at the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant said the beginning of entering fuel into the furnace will begin in December next and will continue for a couple of days.

After three months, a trial run of electricity generation may start. Various assessments will be conducted in line with maintenance of international standards.

After completion of all the assessments, power generation may start from the first unit of RNPP in December next year. Later the production may start at the second unit.

Rosatom, however, declined to make any comment to Prothom Alo.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, RNPP project director Md. Zahidul Hasan said there is no instance in the world that the nuclear power project is completed in time. The Rooppur power project could have been completed in time if the situations like coronavirus and the Russia-Ukraine war had not broken out. Under such a situation, bringing necessary equipment and movements of experts were disrupted.

The work of the power transmission line has also not been completed in time. Production will start from the power plant as per the new schedule.

Sources at the Rooppur project said due to the US sanctions in the context of the Russia-Ukraine war, the European countries declined to supply equipment made for Rooppur. Russia also cancelled importing equipment that Ukraine was supposed to supply.

Later, those equipment were brought from alternative sources. China supplied a big portion of these equipment.

There was a complication over a goods laden ship for Rooppur from Russia. Once a ship was sent back as well.

The country's power transmission agency Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) is constructing power transmission lines. The work was supposed to be started in April 2018. But the work started after three years. The work was supposed to be done by line of credit (LOC) of India. 13 months elapsed to get a letter of credit from Exim Bank. The contractor nominated by them proposed a high cost. Later decision was made to do the work with finance from my own resources. But there was a delay to open LC and pay advance for the contractor due to the dollar crisis.

PGCB sources said the work of the transmission line will be finished before the beginning of production. Construction of 60 kilometers transmission lines from Rooppur to Baghabari, 102 kilometers from Rooppur to Bogura, and 144 kilometers from Rooppur to Gopalganj are going on. Of these, work on the land portion is nearing the end. But construction of two kilometers for  crossing the Padma from Rooppur power plant is yet to be completed. Of the four towers, two towers have been installed in the river. Work on the 147 kilometers line  from Rooppur to Dhaka to supply power from the second unit is going on. There are 14 kilometers in place to cross the Jamuna.

PGCB scheme director (chief engineer) Md Delwar Hossain is in charge of installing river crossing lines. Speaking to Prothom Alo, he said the work of river crossing is complex. The work of the power transmission line of the first unit will be completed by finishing Padma crossing by December.

The work of the transmission line of the second unit will be completed by September next year.       

The construction costs of the Rooppur nuclear power plant are Tk 1140 billion. Russia is providing Tk 910.4 billion. The furnace was installed inside the physical structure of the first unit in Rooppur in October 2021. The furnace is the main component of the nuclear power plant. Uranium is loaded as fuel for nuclear power production. The furnace for the second unit was installed in October last year.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, Rooppur project department head (admin and finance) Alak Chakrabarti said the necessary equipment is arriving in Rooppur timely. So there is no fear of delay.

Russia formally handed over the first consignment of nuclear fuel to Bangladesh in October 2023. Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant gets recognition of nuclear establishment through this. Bangladesh joined the nuclear club as 33th member. Necessary fuel for the first unit is stocked in Rooppur.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, professor at the Nuclear Engineering Department of Dhaka University, Shafiqul Islam said it takes one year to supply power in the grid through experiments after entering fuel. That means electricity will be available two years after stipulated time. There was no cause of delay in the country, there is an impact on the global situation. Now emphasis has to be given to finish the work within the new deadline.

*This article, originally published in Prothom Alo print and online editions, has been rewritten in English by Rabiul Islam