Tuku signals review of capacity charges for private power producers
Iqbal Hassan Mahmood Tuku, power and energy minister, today signalled his ministry’s plans to address capacity charges for private power producers.
He said payments to power producers cannot be halted immediately. Without these charges, producers would be unable to generate and supply electricity, he warned.
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Tuku said his ministry had sought guidance from the law ministry on reviewing capacity charges.
He made the comment in response to a question at a press conference at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in Dhaka. The Ministry of Finance organised the event to brief the media on the fiscal measures proposed for FY27.
Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury placed a Tk 938,000 crore national budget for the next fiscal year, 18.7 percent higher year on year.
In his budget speech, Khosru said the government has taken steps to ensure financial transparency and accountability through a review of capacity charges and power purchase agreements.
The Bangladesh Power Development Board is expected to pay Tk 48,261 crore in capacity charges in the current fiscal year for electricity purchased from public and private power plants as well as imported sources, according to estimates reviewed by the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC).
Capacity charge payments could increase to Tk 52,608 crore in FY27.
As per BERC’s projections, the capacity charge alone could reach around Tk 5.08 per unit of electricity in FY27, up from Tk 4.66 per unit in the current fiscal year.
By comparison, the weighted average retail tariff currently stands at Tk 10.40 per unit after the latest revision. This means capacity payments alone would account for nearly 49 percent of the average electricity tariff.
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