Production at Barapukuria coal mine may halt amid storage crisis

Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Limited (BCMCL) is at risk of being forced to halt production as its storage yard is currently overloaded.

Located in Parbatipur upazila of Dinajpur, the BCMCL is a state-owned organisation that operates under Petrobangla.

The company's storage yard currently has about 250,000 tonnes of coal whereas it was meant to store 50,000 tonnes less.

The BCMCL mines around 5,000 tonnes of coal on an average every day, with its sole consumer -- the Barapukuria 525MW coal-fired power plant -- consuming up to 2,400 tonnes each day.

As such, more than half of the mine's output ends up accumulating at its storage yard.

The nearby power producer, which is a concern of Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB), is operating two of its three units as the third unit has been awaiting an overhaul for a long time.

During a recent visit to the BCMCL, it was found that the company's officials are struggling to accommodate coal in the already overloaded storage yard.

The BCMCL's mine produced approximately 364,000 tonnes of coal from August to October this year, while it is expected that another 120,000 tonnes will be extracted in the coming months, sources said.

So, unless the power plant increases its coal consumption, the BCMCL may be forced to stop production until the required storage space becomes available, they added.

They also informed that as per an agreement between the BCMCL and PDB, the Barapukuria power plant is obliged to consume all the coal produced.

Against this backdrop, the BCMCL officials have expressed frustration that the plant is yet to respond to repeated verbal requests and an official letter to increase its coal intake.

However, it should be mentioned that the plant has also exceeded the full capacity of its storage yard, which can store about 80,000 tonnes of coal.

The BCMCL would previously sell its coal to various public and private industries, including brick kilns, until it was found that the company misappropriated 1.45 lakh tonnes of coal in 2018.

After keeping its operations on hold for about two months, the government decided to restrict the BCMCL from selling coal to anyone other than the PDB.

However, BCMCL officials suggest that resuming sales in the open market would alleviate the storage issue, especially during the peak brick manufacturing season. It would also reduce the need for importing coal.

And although the BCMCL cannot take steps to sell coal without government permission, suspending operations for the time being is not without its risk, its officials said.

Mining experts have warned that halting operations could lead to underground gas leaks and spontaneous combustion of coal, both at the surface and underground levels.

Besides, the BCMCL's operational partner as per contracts, China's CMC-XMC Consortium, has stated that it will not permit an unscheduled shutdown, they added.

BCMCL Managing Director Md Saiful Islam Sarkar acknowledged the storage crisis, noting that company officials were actively working to identify a solution.

Abu Bakar Siddique, chief engineer of the Barapukuria power plant, confirmed that the BCMCL has been producing around 5,000 tonnes of coal each day since August.

But as they can only consume between 2,200 and 2,400 tonnes daily, a shortage of space has arisen both at the mine and the plant, he said.

Before August this year, the BCMCL produced around 3,000 tonnes of coal on average every day.

The company's officials said they are working with authorities of the power plant to address the situation and avoid halting production, which could have significant repercussions for energy generation.