Barapukuria power station

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Barapukuria power station is an operating power station of at least 525-megawatts (MW) in Phulbari/Parbatipur, Dinajpur, Rangpur, Bangladesh. It is also known as বড়পুকুরিয়া.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Barapukuria power station	Phulbari/Parbatipur, Dinajpur, Rangpur, Bangladesh	25.5537569, 88.9486312 (exact)

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Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):

• Unit 1, Unit 2: 25.5537569, 88.9486312
• Unit 3: 25.553438, 88.95048

Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name	Status	Fuel(s)	Capacity (MW)	Technology	Start year
Unit 1	Operating	coal: bituminous	125	subcritical	2006
Unit 2	Operating	coal: bituminous	125	subcritical	2006
Unit 3	Operating	coal: bituminous	275	subcritical	2018

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name	Owner	Parent
Unit 1	Bangladesh Power Development Board [100%]	Bangladesh Power Development Board [100.0%]
Unit 2	Bangladesh Power Development Board [100%]	Bangladesh Power Development Board [100.0%]
Unit 3	Bangladesh Power Development Board [100%]	Bangladesh Power Development Board [100.0%]

Project-level coal details

• Coal source(s): Barapukuria coal mine

Financing

• Source of financing: Unit 3: US$224 million in debt from ICBC; US$106.52 million in equity from the Government of Bangladesh

Background

The Barapukuria Coal Power Plant was a 250 megawatt (MW) coal-fired power station commissioned in 2006. In 2018, the power station's capacity was expanded by 275 MW. It is owned and operated by the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) in Dudhipur, Dinajpur province in Bangladesh.

Unit 3 expansion

Barapukuria's Unit 3 was originally proposed as 250 MW. The expansion of the power station was listed by the BPDB as having been approved by the Cabinet "Purchase Committee" with a nominal commissioning date of March 2016.

In 2012, the Bangladesh Power Development Board reported that no progress had been made on the project despite three extensions of the notice for submission of tender for the plant.

In October 2015, it was reported that construction work on the project had begun. The report listed the plant at 275 MW and stated that it would consume 600,000 tonnes of coal annually, with 75 percent coming from Barapukuria Coal Mining Company. Commissioning was planned for 2018.

On December 3, 2017, it was reported the new unit was undergoing testing and would be completed soon. In April 2018 it was reported that "development work" on the unit would continue through the end of the year. The unit was reported to be operating in July 2018.

Unit 3 financing

In January 2014, Chinese private bank Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) provided Bangladesh with a loan of US$224 million to increase the capacity of the 250 MW Barapukuria coal-fired thermal power station by 275 MW. The remainder of the estimated cost of the US$330.52 million project was to be funded by the Government of Bangladesh.

Incidents and disruptions in operation

According to reporting from April 2023, Unit 2 of the power plant had been out of service since 2019 over equipment failure.

In April 2023, Unit 3 had shut down for two days due to a burst pipe.

In June 2023, an employee of a company contracted at the power station was killed in a truck accident.

In September 2024, the entire power station was offline for several days. Unit 2 had reportedly been nonfunctional since the beginning of the year, and Unit 3 was shut down due to a mechanical fault. Unit 3 began operation again at partial capacity after six days.

As of November 2024, Unit 3 continued to operate at limited capacity due to mechanical problems. Four other coal plants in Bangladesh had also cut electricity generation due to coal shortages, unpaid bills, and maintenance, leading to widespread power outages.

Coal shortages

In July 2018, the plant's three units were shut down due to coal shortages from the nearby Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Ltd (BCMCL). Allegations have been raised that coal has been sold illegally by the government, since there are no technical reasons for the shortage. The plant resumed producing power in September, with the "disappearance" of 142,000 tons of coal still a mystery.

In April 2021, the average annual coal production during the third contract period (2017-2021) for the Barapukuria coal mine was reportedly 840 thousand metric tons against an actual average annual demand of 1,200 thousand metric tons. In turn, the power station was chronically underperforming ("for most of its time, [the plant] could not generate half its capacity").

Coal shortages continued in 2022 and early 2023, leading to power outages. In June 2022, it was reported that only 275MW unit was working, as the coal production had been suspended since April at Barapukuria coal mine. However the situation seems to have stabilised later in August 2022. In January 2023 it is reported that at the 274 MW-capacity unit, operational capacity was fluctuating between 24 and 250 MW. The other two units could generate 85 MW of electricity each.

In June 2023, government officials said that the power station had been producing at only half its capacity, contributing to a load shedding crisis in the country.

In July 2023, Unit 1 of the power station was shut down due to a coal shortage, and Unit 2 was offline for renovation work. According to local reporting, all three units of the power station were "never operated simultaneously."

In December 2023, production at Barapukuria Coal Mine was temporarily suspended. There was reportedly enough coal to run Barapukuria power station for two months. The mine resumed operations in February 2024.

In November 2024, a court hearing was held surrounding corruption at Barapukuria coal mine.

Environmental & public health impacts

In November 2019, Market Forces, 350.org, Bangladesh Poribesh Andolan (BAPA), Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) and Waterkeepers Bangladesh co-published the report, “Choked by Coal: the Carbon Catastrophe in Bangladesh,” to expose the possible consequences of building 29 coal-fired power stations in Bangladesh. The report identified how if these coal-fired stations are built, Bangladesh’s coal capacity will increase by “63-fold, from 525 MW [megawatts] today to 33,200 MW.” It highlighted that the Barapukuria power station – Bangladesh’s only operational coal plant at the time – was toxic and inefficient, raising concerns about larger coal plants under construction in Bangladesh.

The power station has serious impacts on water and land. For example:

• "Testing found that the coal ash pond had significantly contaminated well water and irrigation water with toxic heavy metals. Lead levels were 35-395 times higher than the WHO drinking water standards while chromium was 8,025-18,675 times higher."
• "Coal ash pond overflows onto cropland, contaminating food production areas."

Contact details

Website: http://www.bpdb.gov.bd/

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of coal-fired power stations, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.