SS Power Plant, a 1320-megawatt production facility at Gondamara of Banshkhali in Chattogram, went into commercial operation on Monday.
The country's first large private coal-fired thermal-power project started supplying electricity to the national grid at full capacity from 12:01 am on September 18.
Prior to its opening, officials from the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPBD) inspected the power plant, according to a statement of the company.
The power plant, which started its official induction into the national grid on 14 January, has two units, each with a capacity of 660 megawatts (MW).
The first and second units began their test runs on May 24 and June 28 respectively.
The plant is owned jointly by home-grown business entity S Alam Group having a 70-per cent stake, and two Chinese companies SEPCOIII and HTG 30 per cent.
"Today is an exciting day for the people of our country. With the cooperation of PDB and all concerned, we've successfully started commercial production of SS Power Plant on 18 September at 12:01 am and that electricity is being added to the national grid," said SS Power CFO Md Ebadat Hossain Bhuiyan.
"I strongly believe the commercial production of this power plant will contribute significantly to the daily life of people and the national economy."
SS Power fetched the highest investment from a single private entity to the tune of $2.6 billion (Tk 280 billion), reads the statement.
Moreover, S Alam Group holds the record for facilitating foreign investment in a private project.
Compared to other plants, SS Power's electricity will be more cost-efficient.
When in full production, the plant will be able to supply about 293 million units of electricity per day and about 880 million units per month.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Chinese President Xi Jinping jointly initiated this project in 2016 following the inking of a deal by BPDB and SS Power.
azizjst@yahoo.com