Indian company to build power plant in B’desh

PPA, execution deals signed

FE Report | Published: August 29, 2017 00:25:30

Another Indian firm will build a dual-fuel power plant in Bangladesh, this one in Bhola, with generation capacity of around 220 megawatts (MW).
Nutan Bidyut Bangladesh Ltd (NBBL), a newly established subsidiary of India's Shapoorji-Pallongi Group, entered into a couple of deals with Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) to this effect.
The state-run BPDB inked Monday a power-purchase agreement (PPA) and an implementation agreement (IA) with the Indian firm on the project.
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid, who was the chief at the deal-signing ceremony at Bidyut Bhaban in Dhaka, said the country requires generating around 2,000 MWs of electricity every year to meet a mounting demand.
"The government would improve the skill level of the personnel involved with the power sector to face the ever-changing challenges," he said.
The state minister said the government has planned to start importing Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) by April 2018 to feed growing energy needs in the country.
Mr Hamid said the power-generation capacity reached 15,775 MWs and over 80 per cent people were brought under electricity coverage.
Secretary of BPDB Mina Masud-uz-Zaman and J Sinha Mahapatra, director of NBBL, signed the PPA and IA on behalf of their respective sides.
According to the deal, the power company would supply electricity to the national grid within December 2019 from the date of signing the agreement.
BPDB will purchase electricity from NBBL for 22 years at the rate of US$3.98 cent per unit (1.0 kilowatt-hour) if the plant is run on natural gas and $16.96 cent per unit if it is run on diesel.
Some other Indian firms have signed deals earlier for setting up power plants in Bangladesh, including the one at Rampal.
Azizjst@yahoo.com