The country's power development board will set up a 400-megawatt (MW) gas-based plant at Bibiyana for the first time out of its own fund to enhance the electricity supply
Power Division officials said the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) submitted a Tk 25.08 billion project proposal to set up the plant at natural gas-rich Bibiyana in Habiganj.
"The BPDB for the first time has decided to invest from its own fund to set up such a big 400MW power station. It's big news for the country that the Board has achieved financial capacity to spend money from its own earnings for a large power station," a BPDB member, Zafar Ullah Bhuiya, told the FE.
He said a Spanish contractor had been selected to set up the power plant. "Now bidding price of the Spanish company will be sent to the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase soon for approval. And then we will sign a contract with the bidder," he added.
Mr Bhuiya said the BPDB had so far set up all the power stations by borrowing money from the government or from the foreign lenders to boost its power generation capacity.
Earlier, the BPDB started the work on another 400MW power plant at Bibiyana by borrowing funds from the Export Credit Agency. It selected the Japanese firm Marubini Corporation to set up the plant.
A private company, Summit Power, is also installing another 450MW combine cycle power plant at Bibiyana. The electricity from this plant will be purchased by the BPDB for supplying to the consumers.
BPDB is the largest power producer in the country. It is also authorised to supply all the electricity, generated in private and public sectors, to the power distributing agencies for connecting the customers.
Currently, the BPDB generates 4,440MW of power a day from its plants. The rest of a total of 10,390MW is produced by different government-owned, private and joint-venture companies.
According to the Power Division official, nearly 38 per cent of Bangladesh's population are still out of the electricity coverage and the government is trying to generate more electricity.
The BPDB initiative to install a 400MW combine-cycle power station at Bibiyana was laudable, he added.
A BPDB official said they invited bids from the international companies in February last and hired a Spanish contractor for constructing the 400MW power station.
"After completing all necessary formalities we will sign a contract with the selected bidder," he added.
The gas-based power plant installation might be completed by June 2017, BPDB member Zafar Ullah Bhuiya said.
Another BPDB official said they already sent the project proposal to the Finance Division, Planning Commission, Economic Relations Division, Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Division and other relevant government agencies seeking their opinions.
After getting clearance from those agencies, "we'll appoint the contractor for starting the installation work," he added.
The Power Division official said the demand for power in the country would rise to 14,150MW in the financial year (FY) 2017-18.
As per the requirements, the government was working to set up more power plants for boosting its total electricity supply capacity, he added.
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