Adani Power cuts electricity supply to Bangladesh over unpaid bills: Report

Adani Power reduced its electricity supply to Bangladesh to 700 MW amid unpaid dues of USD 846 million.

Adani Power Jharkhand Limited (APJL), a subsidiary of Adani Power, has halved its power supply to Bangladesh due to unpaid bills amounting to USD 846 million, The Daily Star reported on Friday.

Adani Power cuts supply to Bangladesh amid $846M unpaid bills. (REUTERS/Dado Ruvic)

Data from Power Grid Bangladesh PLC showed that the Adani plant reduced its supply on Thursday night, causing Bangladesh to experience a power shortfall of over 1,600 megawatts (MW) overnight. The 1,496 MW plant is now operating at 700 MW from a single unit.

Earlier, Adani Power had sent a letter to the Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB) requesting payment of outstanding dues by October 30. The letter, dated October 27, warned that failure to clear the bills would lead to a suspension of power supply by October 31 under the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).

Unpaid dues due to increased charges: PDB

A PDB official said that while they had cleared some previous dues, since July, Adani’s charges have increased to over USD 22 million weekly, while PDB has been paying around USD 18 million, causing unpaid dues to grow.

Last week’s payment to Krishi Bank couldn’t be processed due to a dollar shortage, preventing the bank from opening a letter of credit, the official said.

After a one-year supplementary deal requiring lower coal prices ended, Adani resumed pricing based on the original PPA, which calculates coal costs from Indonesian and Australian indices, raising prices. Adani said they can claim capacity payments during any supply suspension per PPA rules.

Gautam Adani, chairman of Adani Group, also wrote to the Bangladesh’s interim government, led by Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, to address the dues.