660 MW 1st unit Payra coal plant by June 2019

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DHAKA, April 2, 2018 (BSS) – The first unit of Payra Ultra Super-Critical Coal fired Power Plant having a 660-MW generation capacity is expected to go into operation by June 2019.

“The plant would be an eco-friendly one with clean coal technology and is expected to help achieve excellence in the country’s power and energy sector,” Director General of Power Cell Engineer Mohammad Hossain told BSS here today.

He said the second unit of the plant having another 660-MW generation capacity would go into operation by 2020 and the total generation capacity of the plant would be 1320 MW.

According to an official of the power cell, Bangladesh-China Power Company Ltd (BCPCL), a joint venture of Chinese Power Company CMC and Bangladesh’s North-West Power Generation Company Ltd (NWPGCL), is implementing the project at a cost of about $2 billion.

He said the government took all measures to protect environment as well as the habitat and biodiversity of that region. The coal would be transported to the power plant site from the deep sea in covered barges, he added.

Earlier, State Minister for Power Nasrul Hamid expressed his satisfaction over the progress so far made in construction of the power plant. “I am extremely happy to see the project making rapid progress,” he said.

Currently, the government is working on three major power generation hubs at Payra in Patukhali, and Maheshkhali and Matarbari in Cox’s Bazar, where several coal and LNG-based power plants will be installed.

Steps have already been taken to prevent possible damage to the environment at Payra, Nasrul said, adding that the government has undertaken a number of coal-fired power plants across the country to

generate 24,000 MW electricity by 2021, 40,000 MW by 2030 and 60,000 MW by 2041.

On March 19, 2014, the NWPGCL and CMC signed a memorandum of understanding to set up the plant, while the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for implementation of the project was signed on March 29, 2016.