Bangladesh will achieve 100 per cent electrification with the inauguration of 1,320-megawatt (MW) ultra-super critical coal-fired power plant at Payra in Patuakhali on March 21.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to inaugurate the power plant, which is the country's first ultra-super critical coal-fired power plant.
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid disclosed these, while speaking at the FERB Meet the Press, jointly organised by the Forum for Energy Reporters Bangladesh (FERB) and the Bangladesh-China Power Company Ltd (BCPCL) on Monday.
Currently, the country's 99.85 percent areas and families are getting electricity, as Bangladesh is generating around 12,000 MW of electricity.
A total of 31.30 million new electricity consumers were added over the past one era, according to the Power Division statistics. Per capita electricity consumption also more than doubled to 560 kilowatt-hours from 220 kilowatt-hours.
Bangladesh's overall electricity generation increased fivefold to around 25,514 MW over the past one era since January 2009, when electricity generation was around 4,942 MW.
Around 13,219 MW of electricity will be added to the national grid in near future, as a total of 33 power plants are now under construction.
The Payra power plant is the 10th cleanest power plant of its kind in the world, said BCPCL MD A M Khurshedul Alam.
The plant is using coal, having 5,050 kilocalorie burning capacity, and its current price in international market is around US$105-107 per tonne, he added.
The BCPCL, a 50:50 joint venture of the state-owned North-West Power Generation Company Ltd (NWPGCL) and the China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMC), has implemented the power plant project.
The plant, near the Payra seaport, is the country's first power plant to run on imported coal. It has commitment to use bituminous and sub-bituminous coal, and its expected efficiency level is 48.05 per cent. It will require around 12,000 tonnes of coal daily to generate electricity.
A consortium of the China Energy Engineering Group, the Northeast Electric Power Construction Co Ltd, and the China National Energy Engineering & Construction Co Ltd was the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor of the project.
The BCPCL, owner of the power plant, inked a $1.56-billion contract with the Chinese consortium on March 29, 2016.
The project was implemented at 30:70 equity debt ratio, meaning the NWPGCL and the CMC provided 30 per cent fund of the total project cost, and mobilised the remaining 70 per cent from external sources.
The BCPCL provided 20 per cent equity to implement the power plant project, and the remaining 80 per cent was sourced as loan from the Exim Bank of China.
The government issued a state guarantee worth $1.0 billion in favour of the Chinese loan, and also allocated around 998.77 acres of land for implementing the project on turnkey basis.
The initial talks to implement the power plant started around five years back with the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the NWPGCL and the CMC on March 19, 2014.
Its land development and protection project, involving Tk 7.83 billion, was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on October 21, 2014.
Azizjst@yahoo.com