Dhaka: Bangladesh has taken up the world’s most efficient coal power plant to be set up at Matarbari. The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) last week approved financing of Tk 35,984.46 crore to implement the project to increase electricity generation and meet the demand, which is annually growing at an average rate of 10%.
The project titled Matarbari 2×600 MW Ultra Super Critical Coal-Fired Power Plant is the biggest in the history of the country’s infrastructure development projects, including the Padma bridge.
However, Bangladesh had already undertaken Rampal Power Project, which is bigger than the Matarbari project in terms of capacity (1320 MW) but it would be implemented under a joint venture initiative of Bangladesh and Indian state-owned companies.
Matarbari plant would be Bangladesh’s first plant to use sea surface water for cooling and steam generation. The infrastructure to be developed under the project has been provisioned in the area so one more plant having same capacity can be set up.
Assisting Bangladesh to set up the modern plant, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) would provide 80% of the project cost with an aim to transform the area into a power generation hub like Japan’s Kashima Port & Industrial Area.
Bangladesh has long been suffering from power shortage, forcing the government to go for expensive fuel oil-based contingency plans to urgently meet the fast growing demand.
At the same time, the government has undertaken a massive plan to set up high-capacity imported coal-based power plants to meet the demand through providing less expensive electricity.
The Matarbari project is one of the projects undertaken by the government.
The government has a plan to generate around 20,000MW of coal-fired electricity by 2030 to meet the demand. As of now, plans have already been taken to generate around 15,000MW of coal-fired electricity, according to Power Cell sources.
At present, the country’s daily average production is around 7,000MW against a demand for around 7,500MW.
The Matarbari plant will be an Ultra Super Critical Technology, 42% more efficiency than the average 34% of other coal-based plants in Bangladesh.
The plant will have the highest thermal efficiency in the world with 41.3% compared to 35% in the USA, 29% in India, the UK and Germany, 38% in France and 40% in Japan.
“There will be two plants each having a generation capacity of 600MW. The entire project is scheduled to complete by June 2023,” Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal told reporters after the meeting. He expected the first one to complete by 2018.
He said the plant would be the country’s largest development project, even bigger than the Padma bridge project.
Due to the use of higher work efficiency technology, the plants will witness less coal consumption. As a result, Mustafa Kamal said, there would be emission of less carbon dioxide.
The minister assured that the government would show zero tolerance about environment pollution during the implementation of the project, as it was cost-efficient while incorporating best technology.
He said the Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Limited (CPGCBL) will provide Tk4,926 crore from its own fund for the project while Tk28,939 crore will come from JICA.
Two more power plants will be set up at the project site in future along with an LNG terminal while Moheshkhali would be turned into a complete township, said the minister.
The CPGCBL under the Power Division will implement the project at Matarbari and Dhalghata union of Moheshkhali upazila in Cox’s Bazar.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would request her Japanese counterpart during his visit to Bangladesh next month to facilitate completion of the first unit of the plant by 2018, a senior official quoted the PM saying at the meeting.
Power from this plant is projected to cost nearly Tk 7 per kilowatt-hour when it begins commercial production in 2023. The cost is considered high in the present context.
The minister said a buffer zone would be built in the deep-sea port for keeping imported coal. After meeting the demand of the Matarbari power plant, the remaining coal will be supplied to other coal-based plants.
Besides this one, the government is planning to set up more coal-fired plants in Maheshkhali with a view to producing additional 8,000MW electricity.
According to the project document, a 2-kilometre long, 250-metre wide and 18-metre deep channel will be dug from the deep-sea port to the jetty of the power plant. The earth and sand dug from the channel will be used for development of the seaport.
The use of this technology, according to a press release of the planning ministry, will reduce carbon emission.
The cost of electricity generated from this power plant will be higher than that from other plants, the project document states.
The Matarbari project cost is strikingly higher than the Indo-Bangla joint venture 1,320MW Rampal coal-based power plant that would require at least $1.5 billion for construction.
However, unlike the Rampal project, it has included costs for other facilities: a port for large ships with 80,000-tonne capacity, a high voltage 400kV transmission line from Maheshkhali to Anwara of Chittagong, construction of a road and two bridges from Chakoria to the project side.
The project, the first venture of the newly formed Coal Power Generation Company of Bangladesh, will be built on 1500 acres of land, keeping in mind future expansion. The cost of this land is estimated at Tk 350 crore. – Energy & Power report
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