The Reliance Bangladesh LNG and Power Ltd, owned by the Reliance Power Ltd of India, signed final deals with three Bangladeshi entities concerned on Sunday to construct a 718-megawatt (MW) combined cycle power plant.
Under the agreement, the power plant project will be implemented within 36 months of inking the deal (August 31, 2022). The Re-Gasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG)-based plant will be located at Meghnaghat in Narayanganj.
The Reliance BD inked an implementation agreement with the Power Division under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), and a gas purchase and sales agreement with the state-run Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd.
The BPDB will purchase electricity from the Reliance's power plant for 22 years at a levelised tariff rate of 7.312 US cents (Tk 5.85, per kilowatt-hour) with 82 percent plant factor and 12 percent discount factor as per the PPA, according to a fact-sheet made available to the newsmen and guests who attended the event.
However, the fact-sheet did not mention the rate, at which the Titas would supply gas to the proposed power plant.
In the contract, the US dollar rate was calculated to be Tk 80 each.
The deals were signed with the Reliance after around four years of signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) and two years of getting approval from the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase.
Prime Minister's Adviser on Energy Issues Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury was present as the chief guest at the deal signing ceremony at Bidyut Bhaban in the city.
Speaking on the occasion, he urged the Reliance to implement the power plant project within the stipulated time.
Clarifying the cause behind the delay in inking the final deals, the adviser said the delay happened due to complex nature of the deals.
After implementing the power plant projects under short- and medium-term planning the government is now executing its long-term planning by building big power plant projects, he added.
Speaking as the special guest, Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Riva Ganguly Das said the bilateral relationship between Bangladesh and India has reached a new height now.
Investment opportunity in Bangladesh is very attractive, she added.
Chief Coordinator of SDG (sustainable development goals) Affairs at the PMO Abul Kalam Azad, the Power Division Senior Secretary Ahmad Kaikaus, Energy Secretary Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem, the BPDB Chairman Khaled Mahmood, and the Reliance Director Sameer Kumar Gupta also spoke on the occasion.
The Power Division officials said the Reliance signed the MoU during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Dhaka in June 2015, announcing its plan to set up a 3,000-MW gas-fired power plant and a 500-mmcfd (million cubic feet per day) LNG terminal in Bangladesh.
The import of LNG, use of required gas at the power plant, and sale of remaining portion of the imported gas to the Bangladesh government were part of the Reliance's initial plan.
But frequent changes in its proposal as well as mismatch with the government's terms and conditions pushed the project to the latest shape.
The latest proposal got approval from the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase in May 2017.
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