A view of the newly-constructed Sutiakhali 50 MW solar power plant on the Brahmaputra River bank in Mymensingh — FE Photo MYMENSINGH, Nov 03: Despite delay for the coronavirus pandemic, construction work of the Sutiakhali 50 MW solar power plant on the bank of the Brahmaputra River in Mymensingh has finally been completed.
Solar power generation from the project on an experimental basis will start at the end of this month, said Group Captain (Retd) Sheikh Mohammad, director, HDFC Sinpower Limited.
"I hope, soon, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will officially inaugurate operation of the plant," he added.
With the solar power plant going into operation, another 50 MW electricity will be added to the national grid, sources said.
HDFC Sinpower Limited is implementing the project in a joint venture of Bangladesh, Malaysia and Singapore in Sutiakhali of Mymensingh with the aim of generating renewable energy, especially environmentally-friendly solar power, under the Seventh Five Year Plan of the government.
Under the supervision of an executive engineer of PDB with private investment and government supervision, work on the state-of-the-art eco-friendly solar power plant at a cost of Tk 800 crore on 174 acres of land in Sutiakhali in Mymensingh's Gauripur upazila has been completed.
Although the project work started in 2014 as per documents, after many ups and downs, after the signing of 'Implementation Agreement' with the Ministry of Power and Energy at the end of 2016 and 'Power Purchase Agreement' with the Power Development Board, implementation work of the 'Sutiakhali 50 MW Solar Power Project' started in 2017.
Production was supposed to start by June 30 after extending the project.
But after the Chinese engineers involved in the project returned to the country on New Year's holiday, they could not return on time due to the coronavirus pandemic, delaying installation and connection of the solar plates.
In addition, some local people and political leaders allegedly raised obstruction about the project work for their own interests.
As a result of the prompt intervention of the district administration and law and order forces, it was possible to complete the work quickly by overcoming all the obstacles.
Project Director and PDB Executive Engineer Indrajit Debnath said, "The project already includes construction of an office building, Brahmaputra river governance dam, barbed wire fence, installation of solar plates over an area of one sq km, connection of ten box transmission, construction of 132 kV transmission line with sub-station and 132 kV transmission line. The work of laying four kilometers of underground cable up to the line and one kilometer of overhead transmission line has been completed. Now, after equipment testing and commissioning, experimental solar power generation will start and 50 MW of electricity will be added to the grid."
HDFC Sinpower Limited Director Group Captain (Retd.) Sheikh Mohammad Shafiqul Islam PSC said work of the project has been implemented following all the regulations of the government.
It is the largest project among the ongoing solar power projects in the country.
He hoped that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would inaugurate the project now as the work has been completed within the extended time given by the government, saying the project would be a milestone in solar power generation.
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
