Now a case of over production

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Steady record coal production at the Barapukuria mine has created a new problem for the authorities: the 250MW power plant at the site cannot consume enough of it and the mine’s coal yard is rapidly filling up.

And that is not good news. The mine authorities now fear that if this continues, the coal yard will be full within next month and that would pose the danger of “spontaneous combustion” of the coal.

“It is unsafe to keep coal in a storage for a long time. It is even riskier to keep it outside a coal yard,” said an official of Barapukuria Coal Mine Co Ltd (BCMCL), an affiliate of Petrobangla.

The coal yard is rapidly filling up because while the mine is producing record volume of coal steadily, one of the two units of the technically flawed 250MW power plant went out of operation five to six times since January for technical glitches.

On an average, the mine is producing 3,000 tonnes of coal daily–double the regular production level achieved in its troubled past. In two months, the mine has produced 1.88 lakh tonnes of coal while its annual target is 8 lakh tonnes.

The mine did not even produce coal for months between October 2006 and August 2007.

Just a year ago, the Power Development Board (PDB) attempted to import coal to run its coal-fired power plant due to the mine’s failure to supply coal.

The over-priced 260-million-dollar Chinese plant has so far consumed 9.7 lakh tonnes of coal since inception and remained the main consumer of the mine’s coal.

“The two-unit power plant was commissioned in December 2005. But except for the period of June and July 2006, the units seldom ran together steadily for a long time. This happened either because of lack of coal supply or due to the plant’s technical glitches,” said a source.

Even the second unit remained shut down for most of the time this month.

If they operate properly, the two units of the plant consume 2,000 tonnes of coal daily while the mine is now producing 3,000 tonnes. As a result, the coal yard is obviously heading towards a saturation point.

“Even if the two units operate smoothly, we will have to sell coal in the commercial market to avoid saturation of the coal yard,” the source added.

Since the beginning of commercial operation in 2006, the Barapukuria mine has seldom produced enough coal to fill up its coal yard that can store up to 1.3 lakh tonnes of coal. In addition, the power plant can store another 30,000 tonnes.

“Right now, stocks at the coal yard and the power plant have exceeded 1,30,000 tonnes. If the mine continues to produce at the current rate and if both the power plants operate steadily, the stock will be saturated by mid-April,” said a BCMCL source.

The mine is currently producing coal from Face 1103, using just one set of mining tools instead of two as was originally designed. The BCMCL could achieve record production due to the production friendly situation at this mining face. Production from this face will end in mid-May.

Then it will take around 45 days to two months to start extracting coal from the next face. During these two months, the power plant will use coal from its coal yard.

“However, in two months, the power plant can consume maximum 1,00,000 tonnes of coal,” said the source, adding, “We will still have plenty of surplus in the inventory.”

Before the power plant came into operation, the BCMCL sold some coal in the commercial market. But ever since the plant came into operation, this is the first time it is facing such a situation, he added.

Meanwhile, PDB sources claimed that it was not very unusual that one of its two units of the power plant had to be suspended several times this year.

“Coal-fired power plants undergo more maintenance work than regular plants,” said a PDB official. “Coal from Barapukuria mine leaves certain chemicals and residuals that affect the plant’s generation capacity. This necessitates the frequent maintenance work,” he added.

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