Move to set up 450mw power plant in Sylhet

---

FHM Humayan Kabir The government has taken a move to set up a 450-megawatt (mw) capacity power plant at gas-rich Bibiyana in north-eastern Sylhet to help augment power supply to the national grid, officials said Thursday. Power Division officials said the state-owned Power Development Board (PDB) has taken up the Bibiyana-III power station project that will have a production capacity of 450mw, at a total cost of Tk 31.24 billion. "We have sent the project proposal to the Planning Commission seeking its approval," a senior official said. According to the proposal, the PDB has sought fund from the government's own resources to set up the gas-fired power plant by fiscal year (FY) 2013-14. The government has already signed two deals with a local private firm - Summit Power - to allow installation of Bibiyana-I and Bibiyana-II power stations, each having an annual capacity between 330mw and 450mw. The government will provide necessary land and the required gas supplies to the selected firm for generating electricity. "Since the Bibiyana gas field has been supplying the highest quantity of gas, we have initiated the move to construct the third plant, in addition to installation of two other stations there," a senior PDB official said. The US firm Chevron-operated Bibiyana gas field is now producing nearly 750 million cubic feet of gas per day (mmcfd). The official said as the country's estimated peak demand for electricity will increase to nearly 10,283 mw in FY2015, the move has been initiated to set up the gas-based power station nstallation projects, having high production capacity. The operating power stations of the country cannot now fulfil the aggregate demand for electricity as it is facing over 1,500 mw of supply shortage a day. The power stations now generate daily electricity between 4,600 mw and 5,000 mw against the demand for over 6,000 mw. The present government has undertaken a plan to generate 14,663 mw of additional electricity by the calendar year 2016 in both public and private sectors to feed the growing energy demand. Nearly half of Bangladesh's population does not still have access to electricity connections. The government stated earlier that it would like to bring the entire population under electricity coverage by the year, 2020. "If the Planning Commission approves the Bibiyana-III power project, we will soon go for inviting tender to select a contractor for setting up the plant," the PDB official said. A Planning Commission official said the commission received the project proposal from the Power Division and is reviewing it carefully. "After the revision, we will give a decision on the power generation project as soon as possible," he said.