A consortium of three local and foreign companies signed deals with the government entities here on Wednesday to implement the country's biggest 584 megawatt (MW) combined cycle power plant at Meghnaghat of Narayanganj.
The consortium, named Unique Meghnaghat Power Ltd (UMPL), will build the power plant within 36 months.
The plant will run either on locally produced natural gas or by re-gasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) to generate electricity.
The UMPL, the consortium of Unique Hotel & Resorts Ltd., Strategic Finance Ltd. and US company GE Capital Global Energy Investment BV, inked the deals at a function at Bidyut Bhaban in the city.
Some US$ 520 million will be required to implement the power plant project, which is expected to provide electricity by July 2022.
Unique Hotel and Resorts Ltd has 64.98 per cent stake in the power plant project, while the GE has 30 per cent and Strategic Finance has 4.95 per cent stakes.
State-run Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) will purchase electricity from the power plant at a levelised tariff rate-around US cents 3.69 per unit (1 kilowatt-hour) or Tk 2.95 per unit, if it is run by locally produced gas.
The tariff would be US cents 6.80 per unit (1 kilowatt-hour) or Tk 5.44 per unit, if it is run by RLNG.
State Minister for the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR) Nasrul Hamid was the chief guest at the function, while US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl R Miller, Principal Coordinator of SDG affairs at the Prime Minister's Office Abul Kalam Azad, Power Secretary Ahmad Kaikaus, and Petrobangla Chairman Ruhul Amin were the special guests.
National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Md Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan also spoke. The event was chaired by the BPDB Chairman Khaled Mahmood. UMPL Chairman Mohammad Noor Ali was also present.
Speaking on the occasion, the state minister spelled out government's plan to phase out oil-fired power plant with the implementation of large coal-fired and gas-fired power plants.
He said the country would be under 100 per cent electricity coverage by December this year.
He also hoped the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha would be free from any electricity outage.
UMPL Managing Director Chowdhury Nafees Sarafat said this power plant will be the largest combined cycle power plant and will provide more reliable and affordable electricity, and thus will contribute to boost the country's overall economy.
GE's South Asia CEO (Gas Power Systems) Deepesh Nanda said the country has a conducive environment for investment.
State-run Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd (TGTDCL) will provide local gas or RLNG to the power plant.
The GE will also be the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor of the project and will build it on turnkey basis at the cost of US$ 350 million.
The GE will be supplying latest technology 9HA gas turbine to implement the project.
The Power Division under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR), however, selected the consortium to build the power plant under the 'Speedy Supply of Power and Energy (Special Provision) Act 2010' bypassing usual tendering process.
This is, however, the second such deal to implement similar type of power plant at the same location.
A consortium of local Summit and US's GE inked deals with government entities in March this year to implement a 583 MW dual- fuel combined cycle power plant.
