Asianet Pakistan Private Limited

Rooppur nuclear power plant is a prestigious project of Bangladesh, which has become a member of the elite club of nuclear electricity producers.

The plant is situated at Ishwardi in the district of Pabna, on the river Padma, which flows lean in the dry season and is full and turbulent in the Monsoon.

The plant consists of two units, each with a 1,200 MW Russian reactor model VVER-1200, for a total capacity of 2,400 MW.

Both units are under construction, and one of them has started pre-commissioning tests.

It is a turnkey project under Russian credit, and ROSATOM, a state-owned company of Russia, is taking care of the design, supply, installation, and commissioning.

The VVER-1200 model has been designed for cold countries like Russia, where cooling water below 20°C is naturally available at sea, lakes, and rivers.

The nominal capacity of 1,200 MW is based on cold weather conditions.

Bangladesh is a hot country, and so the capacity will be reduced.

Effect of hot weather in Bangladesh The ambient temperature in Ishwardi reaches 40°C during the peak summer.

The river water temperature also becomes very hot.

The cooling water temperature after evaporative cooling in cooling towers will be 32°C, and that at the condenser inlet will be 33°C, which is 15°C higher than the design temperature of 18°C.

As a result, the turbine will miss the output involved in this 15-degree range.

The plant will not be able to reach the nominal capacity.

A research paper states that capacity will decrease by 0.444% for a 1-degree increase in water temperature.

Thus, for hot weather, each unit of the Rooppur power plant will be de-rated by about 80 MW.

Borrowing of electricity from the national grid Unlike conventional nuclear power plants, the VVER-1200 cannot drive its auxiliaries by bleeding its own steam.

It has to borrow electricity from an external source.

There are huge water pumps and powerful motor-driven valves in the primary and secondary loops.

Additionally, the circuit contains numerous control unit assembly drives, ventilation units, and pumps, all of which require electrical power.

To run auxiliary drives, the plant will draw 120 MW from the grid, and the generated power will be adjusted accordingly. Power required for electric preheaters There are many pre-heaters in water and steam circuits.

They are all electric heaters instead of their own steam-heated heaters.

They will require huge amounts of electrical power, which will also come from an external source.

The power requirement will be around 10 MW. Power required by the fans of cooling towers The Rooppur power plant will utilize forced draft cooling towers to enhance evaporative cooling, producing cold water for the steam condenser.

Highpower draft fans are installed around the perimeter of the towers at the base.

The fans are an additional requirement for a plant in a cold country.

The fans will require approximately 12 MW of electrical power (0.1% of the nominal capacity), which the national grid will also supply.

Summation Rooppur power plant with a total capacity of 2,400 MW will be de-rated to about 1,960 MW (for hot weather, 160 MW, and for refund of borrowed electricity, 280 MW).

It will not be a surprise if the plant’s average output drops to 1,500 MW.

The situation will be a disappointment as the original levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) will no longer be valid.

The cost recovery plan of the project will be in jeopardy. Conclusion The VVER-1200, a high-capacity plant, faces a substantial reduction in capacity and is not cost-effective for Bangladesh.

Smaller plants, with a nominal capacity of around 500 MW that reject steam at temperatures above 50°C, will be a better choice for Bangladesh’s future expansion program, if any.

In that case, the steam can be condensed using naturally available water from a river or sea.

The plants shall be able to bleed steam to power the auxiliary drives, rather than relying on an external source for power.

Bangladesh needs $30 billion annually to tackle climate change impact, but bringing just $1-$2 billion from the IMF feels like an exhausting struggle, said Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed recently. Negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forsecuring $5 billion will begin soon, he added when speaking at the inauguration of a training session titled ‘Navigating Climate Finance: Media Reporting’ held at PKSF auditoriuminAgargaon,Dhaka.

The Economic Relations Division and Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) jointly organized the event.

The adviser said Bangladesh is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change due to its geography, frequent natural disasters, and large populations living on the margins in areas like Patuakhali and Shyamnagar.

Most of the crises here are man-made, he noted, adding that globally ‘we talk endlessly about climate change, but act too little.’ Against this omnipresent lethargy, Bangladesh stands as a crucial exampleofresilience and community-driven response, Salehuddin said.

Power generation at the 1,105-megawatt (MW) Ghorashal Thermal Power Plant in Narsingdi has remained suspended for around two and a half months due to multiple factors, including an ongoing gas crisis, according to its Chief Engineer Enamul Haque. Citing theprolongedshortage,he said production stopped at three major units this June — Unit-5 (210 MW) on June 9, Unit-4 (360 MW) on June 13, and Unit-7(360MW)onJune14.

The government has diverted gassupply tofertilizerfactories, prompting the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resourcestorequestalternative supplyarrangementsforpower generation.

Enamul Haque said that Units 4, 5 and 7 are mechanically sound and could resume operation immediately once gas becomes available.

Earlierin June,Unit-3 (360MW) went offline afteritsturbine rotor blades were damaged.

Repair work is now in the final stage and the unit will also resume generation once gas supply is ensured.

Adani Power and Torrent Power have bagged orders to cumulatively set up 2,400 megawatt (MW) coal power plants from the Indian central state of Madhya Pradesh, the two companies said in separate statements.

MP Power Management Company has awarded a contract to Torrent Power to supply 1,600 MW from a new coal-based power plant that would require an investment of 220 billion rupees ($2.51 billion), according to a statement by the company.

Adani Power would supply power in the central Indian state from a new 800 MW thermal power plant with an investment of 105 billion rupees ($1.20 billion), its fourth major power supply order in the last 12 months, the company said in a separate statement. PrimeMinisterNarendraModi’s government aims to lift coalbased power capacity by 80 GW to more than 290 GW by 2032, an increase of over onethird, to ensure a reliable, round-the-clock supply.

Everllence has been commissioned to supply the CO2 compression systems for Net Zero Teesside Power (NZT Power) and the Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP) – two flagship projects within the UK’s government-backed East Coast Cluster decarbonization initiative in northeast England. NZT Power is poised to be the UK’s first commercialscale gas-fired power plant with integrated carbon capture and storage (CCS). NEP will provide the transportation and storage backbone of the East Coast Cluster, gathering CO2 from NZT Power and other industrial sources and permanently storing it in offshore geological formations beneath the North Sea – helping to decarbonize local power generation and industry on Teesside. Developed as a joint venture between bp and Equinor, NZT Power will generate more than 740 megawatts of dispatchable low-carbon electricity, equivalent to the average annual consumption of more than one million UK homes, while capturing up to 2 million tonnes of CO2 per year.

The partners claim this collaboration could provide enough energy to power the equivalent of approximately 60 new data centers as artificial intelligence (AI) drives unprecedented growth in electricity demand.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has signed an agreement with ENTRA1 Energy (ENTRA1), which plans to develop up to six gigawatts (GW) of nuclear power generation in TVA’s seven-state service territory.

ENTRA1 is a strategic partner of NuScale Power, a small modular reactor (SMR) developer.

ENTRA1 would drive the deployment, financing, investment, development, execution and management of ‘ENTRA1 Energy Plants’ that have NuScale’s SMRs inside.

ENTRA1 aims to develop and own six ENTRA1 energy plants and sell the output to TVA under power purchase agreements (PPAs).

The partners claim this collaboration could provide enough energy to power the equivalent of approximately 60 new data centers at a time when artificial intelligence (AI) and other e n e r g y – i n t e n s i v e technologies are driving unprecedented growth in electricity demand.

Five members of a family, including three children, suffered burn injuries in a fire caused by an explosion of accumulated gas that had leaked from a cylinder at a building in Narayanganj’s Sonargaon upazila recently.

The victims are Manab Chowdhury, 40; his wife Bacha Chowdhury, 38; and their three daughters – Munni, 14, Tinni, 12, and Mouri, 6.

The injured are currently undergoing treatment at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, said Shawon Bin Rahman, a resident surgeon of the institute.

He added that Manab suffered 70 percent burns on his body while his wife had 45 percent burns.

Munni had burns on 28 percent of her body, while Tinni sustained burns on 22 percent and Mouri 36 percent.

The incident occurred in a ground-floor room of the threestorey building at Kanchpur BSCIC industrial area.

Officials and employees of 80 Palli Bidyut Samities (PBS) across the country have announced an indefinite sit-in protest, demanding withdrawal of dismissal orders and an end to what they described as harassment by the Rural Electrification Board (REB).

The announcement was made at a press conference at the Crime Reporters Association auditorium in Dhaka recently, where Deputy General Manager Mahfuzur Rahman read out a written statement.

Rahman alleged that the REB has failed to fulfil promises on structural reforms and resolution of professional issues.

Instead, the board has continued punitive actions, including dismissals, attachments, and harassment of staff.

On 17, 27, and 28 August alone, 30 officials and employees faced dismissal or disciplinary orders.

Employees also instructed staff to ensure an uninterrupted electricity supply and maintain customer services during the protest.

Energy experts at an energy talk in the capital on 23 August urged Bangladesh to phase out fossil fuels and ensure a just transition to renewable energy.

A group of nine green platforms organized the energy talk at the Liberation War Museum. “Renewable energy is cheaper and makes sense to be used for development for its sustainability,” said Khondaker Golam Moazzem,research director, Centre for Policy Dialogue, a non-government think-tank.

Over the years, Bangladesh pursued a flawed economic forecast and energy policy, ending up in overwhelming reliance on fossil fuel use, he said.

The result proved to be devastating, with a massive amount of money spent on paying capacity charges to idle power plants, requiring the payment of huge energy subsidies, he said.

Excessive expenditures, however, failed to reduce the country’s energy crisis, with frequent power outages occurring, affecting life and business, the energy expert said.

The energy talk was attended by over 200 students.

Ba n g l a d e s h ‘ s liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification has reached almost the saturation level to around 1,053 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) with the country’s two operational floating-storage and regasification units (FSRUs) running at 95.72-per cent capacity. With the present infrastructure the country has the capacity to re-gasify around 1,100 mmcfd in maximum, provided that both the FSRUs run in full capacity, a senior Petropangla official said. Currently, the FSRU, owned by US’s Excelerate Energy, has the capacity to re-gasify around 600 mmcfd of LNG and Summit Group’s FSRU has a capacity of 500 mmcfd.

To utilize both the FSRUs in full swing, Bangladesh will need to import 115 LNG cargoes in a year, said the official.

The state-run Petrobangla is importing a total of 108 LNG cargoes this year (2025), the highest number in a single year.

It has planned to import seven additional LNG cargoes to reach the saturation level for supplying natural gas to gasstarved state-run fertilizer factories.