Rooppur Power Won’t Reach Grid in August

The planned trial connection of 300 megawatts of electricity from the first unit of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant to Bangladesh’s national grid will not take place in August as previously targeted.

Although the necessary technical and safety tests have been completed, the project has not yet received the B-2 commissioning licence from the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority (BAERA). Without the licence, the project cannot proceed to the next stage of starting controlled nuclear reactions in the reactor and subsequently generating electricity.

As a result, the timeline for connecting the first electricity from Rooppur to the national grid has been pushed back further.

According to project sources, nuclear fuel loading in the first unit began on April 28. Fuel loading and initial safety-related tests have subsequently been completed.

A critical stage before electricity generation is the controlled start of a nuclear chain reaction inside the reactor, known as criticality. The project must obtain the B-2 commissioning licence from BAERA before proceeding to this stage.

Dr. Md. Zahidul Hasan, managing director of Nuclear Power Plant Company Bangladesh PLC (NPCBL), the implementing company of the Rooppur project, said the first unit is now at the final stage before electricity generation.

He said 90 major safety and technical tests, including fuel loading, have been completed following regulatory approval. The project is now waiting for BAERA to complete its final inspection and issue the required licence.

Dr. Zahidul Hasan also clarified that electricity generation will not begin immediately after the licence is issued. The controlled nuclear reaction will first be initiated in the reactor. After that, four to six weeks of testing and preparation will be required before trial electricity generation can begin.

BAERA Chairman Md. Mahamudul Hasan said issuing a licence at this stage is a highly sensitive and complex process. The licence will be issued only after the safety of the project, test results and compliance with international standards have been assessed and confirmed.

However, he did not provide a specific timeframe for issuing the licence.

Former Rooppur project director Dr. Shaukat Akbar said there is no scope for compromising on safety in a nuclear power project. Therefore, every stage must be completed thoroughly before moving to the next stage.

Meanwhile, Rooppur project director Dr. Kabir Hossain said it was not possible to provide a specific date for connecting electricity from the plant to the national grid because the process is dependent on technical requirements.

He said several tests still need to be completed before electricity can be supplied. Fuel has already been loaded, and the project will move forward after the required tests are completed. The next stages include initiating the nuclear reaction, rotating the turbine and connecting the turbine to the generator before supplying electricity to the grid.

The first nuclear power plant in Bangladesh is being constructed at Rooppur in Ishwardi, Pabna, with financial and technical assistance from Russia. The project consists of two VVER-1200 reactors, each with a generation capacity of 1,200 megawatts. Together, the two units will have a total generation capacity of 2,400 megawatts.

Before electricity from the first Rooppur unit can be connected to the national grid, the project must pass through several stages, including the B-2 commissioning licence, criticality, further safety and technical testing, and trial electricity generation.

Therefore, the earlier target of connecting 300 megawatts from the first unit to the national grid in August 2026 is no longer achievable.

//DBTech/DIP/MIS/