u/Shot-Addendum-809

'Magyar challenged that account hours later. Under the original contract, Paks II should have been operating by 2024, he told reporters in a press conference Thursday. Instead, Hungary has spent roughly 1,000 billion forints (€2.8 billion) on a site he described as little more than depots and “two large concrete pits.”

“I don’t really see that they have adhered to the contract,” Magyar said. His government is now carrying out a full review of the project, including its financing and cooling arrangements.'

https://www.politico.eu/article/peter-magyar-danube-hungary-russia-nuclear-deal/

I try to follow what's happening in Bangladesh's power sector closely. Recently I noticed the Energy Minister's comment about coal mining and construction of new coal-based power plants.

At a programme titled “Navigating Global Shifts: Fostering Energy Security and Resilience in Bangladesh”, organised by the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS), he said the following according to The Daily Star:

>The minister said Bangladesh should reconsider open-pit coal mining, arguing that domestic coal resources could support 3,000 to 4,000MW of electricity generation.

The government is also planning to replace an old coal-fired power plant with a new one.

>“Coal is definitely a cheap source of energy, although it is not good for the environment, but the technological advances could reduce the environmental impact of coal-fired generation.”

He also said the following at a seminar on ‘Crisis in the Energy Sector: Prospects and Ways Forward’ according to Jago News:

The minister also called for a cautious approach to coal-fired power generation, saying Bangladesh needed to consider the financing challenges associated with such projects.

>“We have to move very cautiously on coal-fired power plants because financing for many of these projects has been stopped,” he said.

The interest in coal is a bit surprising considering Bangladesh does not have enough coal production currently to meet the demands of the old plants and the new planned ones.

What do you all think about this?

"The four reactors currently under construction in the Kudankulam area of Tamil Nadu will be commissioned through March 2030 after missing an initial deadline for completion by 2027. The first is expected to start operations in June next year — joining two Russian reactors of 1GW capacity each that have already been installed in the coastal town.

Official figures shared in March 2020 reveal significantly lower sanctioned costs for all six projects. The KKNPP 3 and 4 nuclear projects in Tamil Nadu (each with a capacity of 1000 MW) was previously accorded Rs 39,849 crore while KKNPP 5 and 6 incurred a cost of Rs 49,621 crore.

The cost of building four 700-megawatt domestic reactors — two each at Kaiga in Karnataka and Gorakhpur in Haryana — are also set to be revised. The GHAVP 1 & 2 projects in Haryana initially had a sanctioned cost of Rs 20,594 crore while Kaiga 5 & 6 were allocated Rs 21,000 crore. The Centre said the cost of both projects were under revision without divulging details. 

Costs have also surged for the Rawatbhata project in Rajasthan that is currently in an advanced stage of commissioning. Commercial operations had also started in April this year. Data gleaned from government updates indicates that the revised cost now stands at Rs 22,924 crore (with NPP cost available in twin unit base). The sanctioned cost had stood at Rs 12320 crore in 2020 — with a revision underway to Rs 17079 crore."

"In a written statement issued on Thursday, Dr. Hasan said Bangladesh’s first nuclear power plant is now in the final stage of preparation for operation. Implemented under an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) between Bangladesh and the Russian Federation, the project includes an Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Commissioning (EPCC) contract between the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) and JSC Atomstroyexport, while financing is governed separately by an Intergovernmental Credit Agreement (IGCA).

He emphasized that the EPCC contract is not a procurement agreement for specific equipment. Instead, it covers the complete design, construction, testing, commissioning and delivery of an operational nuclear power plant.

The contract follows a Whole Plant Contract Price, meaning there are no separate prices for equipment, buildings, construction, and erection or commissioning. Payments are made only after predefined milestones are successfully completed.

Explaining the fund disbursement process, he said that the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) does not have the authority to release payments to the contractor immediately after a milestone is achieved.

First, the milestone-related work must be verified in accordance with the contract, and an Acceptance Document must be signed. Only then is the milestone considered eligible for financing under the loan agreement.

Subsequently, the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation disburses the loan funds following the procedures stipulated in the IGCA. Therefore, payment is not made automatically upon completion of a milestone, nor can BAEC independently release funds.

He noted that Bangladesh is financing 10 percent of the project cost, while the remaining 90 percent is being provided through a Russian state loan. The EPCC agreement governs project implementation, whereas the IGCA regulates loan disbursement and financial management."

"Once the regulator grants approval, the plant will proceed to the criticality phase, Dr Md Zahedul Hasan, managing director of Nuclear Power Plant Company Bangladesh Ltd (NPCBL), the operating authority, told The Daily Star.

Criticality is the operating state of a nuclear reactor in which nuclear fuel sustains a self-supporting fission chain reaction.

Explaining the process, Dr Md Shafiqul Islam, a professor at the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Dhaka University, said the first criticality begins with a self-sustaining chain reaction at zero power.

During the second criticality, the reactor operates at low power to heat water without producing steam, with every stage closely monitored to ensure there are no technical defects, he said.

If all systems function as expected, the reactor will then be brought to higher power levels to generate steam, which drives the turbines to produce electricity.

Dr Shafiq said that it takes a minimum of several months (at least two months) to reach final power generation from first criticality. He said that the success of the entire project will depend on each step being completed correctly.

Beginning fuel loading on April 28, the Rooppur facility entered a multi-step operational commissioning process required to reach full power generation."

The US commerce department has offered verbal reassurance that the state-backed Japan Bank for International Cooperation and other Japanese institutions would not take on any liability for a potential nuclear accident, said the people. A person close to commerce secretary Howard Lutnick said he had personally assured Japan it would not have any liability in relation to the projects.

However, that promise has not been put in writing in legal terms — a process that could take months or years of complex regulatory discussion to settle, said the people.

In Japan’s regulatory system, nuclear plant operators shoulder liability for any accident, whereas in the US, financial responsibility is spread across a wider range of parties, including the plant owner.

The deadlock is the latest obstacle to fulfilling Japan’s investment pledge. Other problems that have arisen in recent months include a refusal by many Japanese industrial groups to lead projects submitted by the US, according to officials who spoke to the FT.

Bangladesh is now exploring small modular reactors as a longer-term hedge against energy shocks and is in early talks with suppliers including Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc and Chinese manufacturers, according to Power and Energy Minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmood.

“The government is looking at plants generating 300 to 400 megawatts, small enough to be built along riverbanks and deployed faster than conventional reactors,” he said. “We will not go for large-scale plants anymore because there are huge liabilities."

"A solar panel can produce clean electricity, but only the right rules can make the system nature-smart. A poorly governed solar market can still produce inflated tariffs, land disputes, elite capture, and public debt. Green technology cannot fix old practices by itself. That is why the question is not only whether energy is clean, but whether it is governed in a way that protects people, land, water, and public money.

Bangladesh’s own solar experience shows the danger. Solar is now one of the cheapest electricity technologies in the world, yet Bangladesh has often procured it at high prices. In one assessment, solar projects that began operating in 2022/23 had an average tariff of about USD 0.155 per kWh in Bangladesh, compared with USD 0.053 in India and USD 0.084 in Vietnam. Another calculation found that solar power could be generated in Bangladesh at around 5.78 cents per kWh, while observed costs were close to 11.60 cents (Change Initiative, 2024). The problem was not the sun. The problem was the market around the sun.

Bangladesh currently has about 1,797 MW of installed renewable energy capacity, according to SREDA’s national database. Solar makes up the largest share, at around 1,504 MW (SREDA, 2026). This is progress, but it remains small compared with national demand and future targets. The gap is not only about money or sunlight. Bangladesh has enough sunlight. The harder problem is how projects are approved, financed, priced, connected to the grid, and shared with people.

Research on solar power contracting in Bangladesh has shown that the country has often paid higher solar tariffs than comparable neighbours. This points to one uncomfortable conclusion: solar becomes expensive when the power market remains closed. The country’s renewable energy projects have too often proceeded through unsolicited bids, opaque tariff negotiations, and informal networks linking investors, intermediaries, and officials. In that kind of market, the best price does not always win. The best-connected player often does. This is how cheap technology can become an expensive contract. Ordinary people pay for this. A high tariff is not an abstract number. It travels through the power system and appears in subsidies, bills, public borrowing, and industrial costs. When competition disappears, prices rise. When prices rise, citizens pay.

The government’s move towards competitive bidding and a review of expensive power contracts is therefore not a minor administrative step. It is central to the future of the energy transition. Competitive procurement can bring serious investors into the market. It can reduce tariff pressure. It can also weaken the informal networks that benefit from closed-door deals. This is where Bangladesh must break the power monopoly. For years, the electricity sector has been shaped by a single-buyer model, closed negotiations, capacity payments, and a narrow circle of politically connected suppliers. Solar should not be added to that structure as another protected business line. It should open up the sector. More bidders, more rooftops, more community systems, more transparent auctions, and more direct consumer participation can reduce the grip of the old power economy.

But auctions alone will not solve the problem. Land is the next battlefield.

Large solar parks need large plots. Bangladesh does not have empty land waiting for projects. Land is tied to rice fields, ponds, grazing space, homesteads, memories, disputes, and livelihoods. When developers are left to arrange land on their own, only powerful actors can move quickly (Change Initiative, 2025). That creates entry barriers for better but less well-connected investors. It can also drive up land prices and trigger local resistance.

A land-smart renewable strategy is now essential. Solar parks should not be built by blindly converting agricultural land. Bangladesh should first use rooftops, public buildings, industrial sheds, railway land, degraded land, water bodies suitable for floating solar, and grid-adjacent, low-conflict zones. For larger projects, the government should prepare transparent land banks, ensure fair compensation, consult communities, and auction ready sites competitively."

'If transmission frequency falls below the standard level of 49 hertz (Hz), it could become difficult to maintain grid stability, he noted.

A frequency above 50 Hz is manageable, he said, adding that a lower transmission frequency could lead to tripping of the national grid.

PGCB Chairman Abdur Rashid Khan echoed similar concerns about frequency fluctuations following the commencement of power generation at the Rooppur plant.

"It is a major challenge to maintain stable frequency in a transmission system that carries electricity generated from multiple sources," he said.

Frequent fluctuations in electricity demand could further complicate the situation, he cautioned.'

Announcing the project, Rosatom said it was looking at a design with modularity, for future capacity expansion. It said the first module would have a capacity of 400 tonnes of fuel per year. The aim is to reach that capacity within a decade. "The plant will become the largest spent nuclear fuel reprocessing facility in Russia, capable of processing fuel from both thermal and fast reactors," it said.

Andrey Nikipelov, Deputy Director General for Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Solutions at Rosatom, said: "Industrial nuclear recycling technologies and a developed infrastructure are not only a solution to a pressing environmental challenge in our country. Global reserves of spent nuclear fuel, reaching 360,000 tonnes, and the active construction of domestically designed nuclear power plants abroad provide Russia with a unique opportunity to cement its leadership in the global nuclear solutions market.

"Expanding our capacity and developing new technologies in radiochemistry will allow us to move beyond providing one-time services to other countries and move toward developing a comprehensive strategic partnership. This partnership is based on the principles of environmentally responsible nuclear energy: reducing our carbon footprint and minimising waste."

The Bangladesh Power Development Board has proposed raising wholesale electricity tariffs by 17 to 21 percent -- Tk 1.2 to Tk 1.5 per unit, citing higher fuel costs, exchange-rate pressures, and rising subsidy needs.

According to an assessment by the Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission, without government subsidies, the wholesale tariff would need to rise to Tk 12.55 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) from Tk 7.04.