Target 9,000MW power
The economic affairs committee of the cabinet yesterday approved appointment of a consultant to formulate a master plan to generate 9,000 megawatts of power in Maheshkhali, going a step forward with the government's vision to convert the island into the country's largest energy hub.
The committee also approved appointing a joint venture of German, Indian and Bangladeshi companies to make a feasibility study and a layout plan to install five large coal-powered plants totalling around 6,000MW and one 3,000MW power plant to be fired by imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) there.
The joint venture, comprised of Steag of both India and Germany and BCL of Bangladesh, sought Tk 20.5 crore for the job in an open tender floated last year.
It would act as the implementation consultant for the first of the five 1,200MW coal-fired ultra super critical power plants to be built jointly by the Power Development Board (PDB) and Chinese CHDHK.
Currently, the government is processing acquisition of 5,000 acres of land as per the plan.
The Maheshkhali site is within 10-15 kilometres of Matarbari where another coal-fired 1,200MW power project is being built with Japanese soft loan. The Matarbari plant comes with a massive $4.5 billion price tag and includes setting up of a deep-sea port dedicated to handling imported coal.
While all coal plants will be fed with imported coal, the government has another project to set up an LNG terminal in Maheshkhali to facilitate import of 500 mmcfd [one fifth of the country's current consumption] LNG from the Middle East.
“Handling coal would not pose as a major issue as there will be a deep-sea port in Matarbari,” said Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, Bir Bikram, energy adviser to the prime minister.
“Coal is widely available in the international open market,” he added.
Each 1,200-1,300MW coal-fired plant would require a daily supply of 11,000 tonnes of high quality coal to be imported from any of the sources -- Indonesia, South Africa, Australia and Mozambique.
The authorities have, meanwhile, warmed up coal power schemes in Maheshkhali.
The PDB has signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with Malaysia and China to install two power plants each with 1,320MW capacity.
In April last year, the PDB signed a MoU with Chinese company CHDHK and has finalised a joint venture agreement. In September, it signed a MoU with Malaysian Tenega and now preparing for conducting a feasibility study.
Besides, the PDB is framing MoUs with Korean company Kepko and a Singaporean company for two separate power plants.
The North West Power Generation Company has also signed a MoU with Chinese company CMC last year and has appointed a consultant to conduct a feasibility study for its 1,320MW coal-fired power project.
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