Mehdi Musharraf Bhuiyan

The country's state-owned power transmission authority 'Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB)' is likely to get a big boost in terms of communication infrastructure with the completion of National Load Despatch Center (NLDC) by the end of June this year (2009).

PGCB is a leading public limited company listed on the stock exchanges.

Upon the completion of the Center, the whole generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in the country is likely to be controlled and coordinated centrally with greater uplift in the communication network among the power infrastructure through SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) system, the company's annual report of 2008 informed.

The NLDC project; around 76.26 percent of which has been implemented up to June 2008, is likely to cost Tk. 5441.80 million; out of which, US$ 65.70 million (Tk. 3206.50 million) has been financed by Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the rest by Bangladesh Government.

French conglomerate Areva has been contracted to facilitate the necessary infrastructure, which includes procuring and installing of equipment required for SCADA system, Energy Management System, communication system, fiber optic cable, as well as civil works for control center.

The country's telecommunication infrastructure is also likely to be benefitted as the total length of Optical Ground Wire (OPGW) in the country is likely to reach 4,200 km as part of this development, therefore, bringing major parts of the country under the optical fiber network of PGCB.

The first half of 2009 would also see a number of other PGCB projects to be completed which includes, construction of Niamatpur (Naogaon) 132/33 Kv Sub-station and Gollamari 132/33 Kv GIS Sub-station as well as Transmission Line concern and expansion of 230/132 Kv Khulna South Sub-station.

At the same time, construction of Nawgaon-Niamatpur 132 Kv Transmission Line and Ashuganj-Sahajibazar 132 Kv Transmission Line is expected to be completed by the mid- 2009, the annual report informed.

The sole proprietor of the country's national power grid has transmitted a total of about 23, 435 MkWh of electricity in regions across the country in the year 2007-08.

This means a rather lower than expected 6.27 percent growth in transmission for the country's prime energy provider in the said year, during which, the Company says; it has been dogged by 'the limitation in power generation system'.

The net amount of electricity generation at around the same time was 24,296 MkWh; which was 6.69 percent higher than the preceding year. The company generated a total of 22,771 MkWh of electricity in the year 2006/07 and the amount of transmission was 22,053 MkWh.

Meanwhile, the company's total income during the FY 07/08 was Tk. 6115.37 million, which includes a total of Tk 5348.92 million earned as gross revenue by wheeling of power and Tk. 52.72 million from optical fibre leasing.

The total expenditure of the company, on the other hand, was Tk. 3855.92 million during the same time. Thus the company's net profit before tax stood at Tk. 2249.39 million and after tax stood at Tk.1692.66 million, the report informed.

The company's recent annual general meeting approved 27 per cent dividend for the shareholders for the year 2007-08.

The company's total sales during the year 2007/08 was Tk. 5401.64 million, out of which an amount of Tk. 4935.23 million was collected while a total of Tk. 466.41 million, an equivalent of 1.04 months sales', remain receivable.

The value of the company's gross fixed asset in 2007/08 was Tk. 53882.19 million while the net fixed asset worth Tk. 21601.35 million. The debt-equity ratio of the company at the same time was 74:26.

The year 2007/08 has also seen the completion and commissioning of Ashuganj-Sirajganj 230 kv line and Sirajganj switching station while Joydebpur-Kabirpur 132 kv double circuit line has also been completed and constructed.

At the same time, both the construction of Khulna-Ishurdi and Bogra-Barapukuria 230 kv double circuit transmission line as well as Bogra 230/132 kv S/S have been completed and commissioned under the scope of Khulna -Ishurdi-Bogra-Barapukuria 230 kv Transmission line project.

Incorporated in 1996 as a fully Government owned company with a view to restructure the country's power sector, PGCB started its journey with an authorized capital of Tk.10 billion and went public in 2006.

The company has completely taken over all the transmission assets from Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and Dhaka Electric Supply Authority (DESA) and is currently operating them.