The second and last unit of the Payra 1,320 MW Thermal Power Plant has been shut down since 12:30pm on Monday (June 5) due to persisting coal shortage.

This is the first time that the power plant has been completely shut down since its inception. It resulted in excessive load shedding across the country including Patuakhali. The 1,320 MW Payra Thermal Power Plant was a reliable source of electricity for the entire Barishal, Khulna and parts of the capital Dhaka.

Earlier, the first unit of the power plant was shut down on May 25 due to the coal shortage.

The two units of the Payra power plant required around 10,000 to 12,000 tonnes of coal to run at full capacity. Bangladesh-China Power Company (PVT) Limited – the owner of the plant, has been importing coal from Indonesia since its inception in 2018.

However, due to the dollar crisis, Bangladesh-China Power Company (PVT) Limited owes $390 million to the suppliers as coal import bills till April.

As the bills have become overdue, the suppliers are refusing to supply more coal to the Bangladesh-China Power Company (PVT) Limited, which has ended up with a plant shutdown.

Meanwhile, the shutdown of this plant has intensified the power shortage in the national grid as the plant used to inject around 1200MW of electricity daily.