The government has started working on a plan to set up five coal-based power plants with combined capacity of 2,500 mega watt to solve the country’s crippling electricity crisis for the long term, officials said Friday. Power Development Board officials said the five power plants would cost around US $3.5 billion and would take at least four years to complete if the government commences tender processing work this year,
“We have already begun preliminary planning work of the five coal-based power plants with each having capacity of 500 mw. They all will use imported coals,” PDB chairman SM Alamgir Kabir told the FE. “One each could be set up at Mongla and Chittagong. We have done some work in this regard. Two plants could be set up at Meghnaghat and the rest at the location of soon-to-be built Padma Bridge,” he said.
The PDB would send a full proposal on the power plants to the ministries for further consultation, he said. The move comes after the gas crisis started taking toll on overall power generation in the country and the state-owned energy corporation Petrobangla projecting emptying of the present reserve by 2019.
With the gas crisis getting worse every month, the government has already decided to keep provision for dual fuels for all the future power plants in the country. Kabir said in the short-term gas can be used for a few more smaller power plants having combined capacity no more than 400 mw.
“The government could also build a few more smaller plants based on furnace oil or liquid fuel, but these in no way can solve the country’s power crisis in the medium to long term.” “Addition of this new gas-based power plants will ease the situation this year. But for a long term solution of the power crisis, coal is the only answer,” he said.
The plants are expected to be built by independent power producers, i.e by global or local companies, with PDB buying their entire generation, through Private Public Partnership (PPP), a financing mechanism popular in India, or by the PDB alone. “In case of PPP, the PDB will own a fraction of the share by offering land and infrastructure. There is a lot of interest among companies about coal-based power plants,” an official said.
Officials said each of the five power plants would cost around $700 million and they would generate power at a cost of Tk 4.0-4.5 per unit, up more than one taka than the electricity generated by the existing gas-based power plants. The estimate is based on the price of coal ranging between $60 and $80 per tonne in the international market. The price may come down if the country can successfully use the coals of its own mines in northern Bangladesh.
Officials said if the projects go ahead as per the PDB’s plan, the five plants would greatly reduce the power crisis to a great extent during the tenure of the Awami League government.
“We have already begun preliminary planning work of the five coal-based power plants with each having capacity of 500 mw. They all will use imported coals,” PDB chairman SM Alamgir Kabir told the FE. “One each could be set up at Mongla and Chittagong. We have done some work in this regard. Two plants could be set up at Meghnaghat and the rest at the location of soon-to-be built Padma Bridge,” he said.
The PDB would send a full proposal on the power plants to the ministries for further consultation, he said. The move comes after the gas crisis started taking toll on overall power generation in the country and the state-owned energy corporation Petrobangla projecting emptying of the present reserve by 2019.
With the gas crisis getting worse every month, the government has already decided to keep provision for dual fuels for all the future power plants in the country. Kabir said in the short-term gas can be used for a few more smaller power plants having combined capacity no more than 400 mw.
“The government could also build a few more smaller plants based on furnace oil or liquid fuel, but these in no way can solve the country’s power crisis in the medium to long term.” “Addition of this new gas-based power plants will ease the situation this year. But for a long term solution of the power crisis, coal is the only answer,” he said.
The plants are expected to be built by independent power producers, i.e by global or local companies, with PDB buying their entire generation, through Private Public Partnership (PPP), a financing mechanism popular in India, or by the PDB alone. “In case of PPP, the PDB will own a fraction of the share by offering land and infrastructure. There is a lot of interest among companies about coal-based power plants,” an official said.
Officials said each of the five power plants would cost around $700 million and they would generate power at a cost of Tk 4.0-4.5 per unit, up more than one taka than the electricity generated by the existing gas-based power plants. The estimate is based on the price of coal ranging between $60 and $80 per tonne in the international market. The price may come down if the country can successfully use the coals of its own mines in northern Bangladesh.
Officials said if the projects go ahead as per the PDB’s plan, the five plants would greatly reduce the power crisis to a great extent during the tenure of the Awami League government.
Source: The Financial Express, Bangladesh
Link: http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2009/05/23/67389.html
Date: 23 May 2009
Date: 23 May 2009
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