Shikolbaha power plant installation soon

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FHM Humayan Kabir
The installation of the 150-megawatt power plant at Shikolbaha in Chittagong is likely to begin shortly as the process to award the work order to the bid-winning company is nearing completion, official sources said.
Sources in the Power Division said that a Chinese company - Sino Hydropower Corporation Limited- is likely to get the work order as a contractor for setting up the US$82 million Shikolbaha power project.
A Power Division official said the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) is expected to give a go-ahead to the project at its next meeting on October 8. It will then be placed before the Committee of the Advisers' Council on Public Purchase later this month.
"If the committees okay the project, the implementing agency Power Development Board (PDB) will be able to give work order to the selected company for starting installation works by end of the current month," he said adding, the construction work will be completed within 18 months from the date of work order.
The official said the Power Division has already sent the development project proposals for the power plant to the ECNEC.
Earlier, the Power Development Board (PDB) selected the Chinese company for installing the 150MW Shikalbaha power plant after evaluating its technical and financial offers.
The Power Division sources said four Chinese companies submitted bids in January-February period last for setting up the plant and two of them including Sino Hydropower were found technically responsive. Sino Hydropower beat the other Chinese companies with its lower financial offer.
Meanwhile, setting up of another power plant at Siddhirganj, having a generation capacity of 240MW, has been started in order to augment power generation in the country.
The country's current power generation stands at 3600MW to 4000MW against the demand for more than 4500MW, leaving a huge shortfall everyday.
The interim government has taken initiatives to quicken the process for installing some other power plants through the funding from the donors and own resources.
The projects that are in the pipeline include the 150MW at Sylhet, 360MW at Haripur, 150MW at Sirajganj, 150MW at Khulna and 150MW at Chandpur.