Staff Correspondent:

Even though most of the agencies concerned are claiming that the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) is ready to start power generation, experts say that the plant is unlikely to be able to deliver any electricity before 2026.

According to official sources and industry insiders, there is still a long way to go before the RNPP can start commercial operation by the end of 2025.

“There are a lot of issues that still need to be resolved with Russia, including the repayment mode of the Russian loans and the test run of the plant,” a highly placed source.

The construction of the country’s first nuclear plant, with two units having a total capacity of 2,400 MW of electricity generation, began in November 2017 with a target to commission the first unit in 2024 and the second unit in 2025.

But neither of the units is ready for commissioning due to various unresolved issues related to delivering its output to the national grid.

Bangladesh conceived the idea of establishing the RNPP in 2009 and signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Russian Federation on May 13, 2009, on the ‘Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy’ and engaged the Russian nuclear power agency Rosatom as the contractor for the plant’s construction.

Alexey Likhachev, Director General of Rosatom, recently visited Dhaka and met Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus to discuss the project’s progress and shared its unresolved issues, seeking to address them.

He also expressed Russia’s commitment to facilitating the successful completion of the project, with a strong focus on safety, quality, and compliance with international standards.

Both sides discussed the merits of revising the Intergovernmental Credit Agreement (IGCA) by extending the credit utilization period until the end of 2026.

But sources close to Rosatom said that the main focus of its chief was finding a solution to the repayment of the loans by Bangladesh, which has encountered difficulties following the start of the war in Ukraine due to US sanctions on Rosatom.

Sources said that the Russian side proposed that Bangladesh open a branch of one of its state-owned banks so that Rosatom could deposit its money in the Russian bank. “But so far no progress has been made on this issue,” the sources stated.

Regarding the repayment of the Russian loan, which is set to start from 2027 as per the agreement between Dhaka and Moscow, Dr Md Zahedul Hassan, Project Director of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant Project, declined to comment on the matter.

He, however, claimed that Unit-1 of the project has achieved 94 percent progress and is now waiting for the power grid to be ready for connection.

“We are now conducting individual tests of the plant’s equipment and waiting for the grid line to be ready from Power Grid Bangladesh PLC to begin the test run of Unit-1.

He also informed that after connecting with the grid line, the RNPP project will need another 4-6 months to begin commercial operations.

Regarding the power grid line, Md Delowar Hossain, Project Director of Power Grid Bangladesh, informed that a total of six grid lines are being contracted by his agency.

“Of these, three lines are ready while the remaining three are under construction. If the RNPP wants to start its first unit, they can do so,” he stated.

However, official sources at the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) indicated that even if the RNPP and Power Grid Bangladesh complete their works, it will be unlikely to start the commercial operation of Unit-1 until tariff and loan repayment issues are resolved.

He said that the RNPP authority had yet to complete the calculation of the project’s total cost to offer a tariff for selling electricity to the BPDB.

“Almost two years ago, the RNPP authority organized a joint workshop for the BPDB officials to provide an idea about the possible tariff rate. But when they were asked about the project’s total cost, including dismantling, they failed to share any information,” he explained.

Regarding the tariff issue, Dr Md Zahedul Hassan, Project Director of RNPP, admitted the matter and said that his organization has been preparing the tariff paper to begin negotiations with the BPDB.

A senior official from the BPDB, however, stated that they have made a preliminary calculation based on data derived from discussions with BAEC and newspaper reports, and the tariff for each unit of electricity from the RNPP will be no less than Tk 10.

From the very beginning, confusion has surrounded its eventual levelized tariff or the possible generation cost of each unit of electricity, said the official.

On January 15, 2013, an agreement regarding a State Export Credit of US$ 500 million was signed for the preparatory phase of the construction works of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant.

The Bangladesh government signed a US$ 12.65 billion general contract (GC) in 2015 with the Russian Federation for building the 2,400 MW nuclear power plant at Rooppur. Each unit will generate 1,200 MW of power.

Bangladesh signed a credit agreement with Russia to obtain $11.385 billion in Russian credit for the RNPP in July 2016. This credit will cover 90 percent of the project’s cost.