WB set to release $275m for setting up 300MW peaking power plant

FE Team | Published: June 21, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

M Azizur Rahman
The World Bank (WB) is set to provide US$ 275 million (27.5 crore) for installation of a 300 mega-watt (MW) gas-fired peaking power plant at Shiddhirganj in Narayanganj to ease the countrywide nagging electricity crisis.
Sources said the International Development Association (IDA), a concessionary arm of the WB, will provide the loan to finance the $400 million project.
A WB mission has already completed scrutinising different aspects of project development including financial and regulatory issues, environmental and social impact, and financial management of the project components.
The WB executive board is set to appraise the project by the end of the current calendar year, provided necessary preparatory work is completed at the earliest, a senior Power Division official said.
The state-run Electricity Generating Company of Bangladesh (EGCB) will implement the project while the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) will own and operate the electricity transmission line.
Another state-owned gas sector entity - Gas Transmission Company Ltd (GTCL)--will develop necessary gas transmission lines to help implement the project.
The proposed 300 MW Shiddhirganj Power Plant will have two 150-MW simple cycle gas turbines.
When completed, it will complement another Asian Development Bank (ADB)-funded 240 MW Shiddhirganj peaking power plant, the start of construction work of which is drawing near.
A 60-kilometre long and 30-inch diameter gas pipeline will have to be built from Bakhrabad to Shiddhirganj to install the WB-funded power plant, which will supply electricity to the Dhaka grid through an 11-kilometre long and 230 KV electricity transmission line.
Installation of the proposed 300 MW power plant is a part of the Power Division's plan to generate around 6,000 MW additional electricity in the next five years from 2007-2012 to improve the power supply situation across the country, a senior official of the division told the FE.
He said a total of 26 new power plants and units will be installed during the period, of which 17 will be set up in the public sector, eight in the private sector and the remaining one under a private-public joint initiative.
A plan is under consideration to produce a total of 3,375 MW additional electricity in the public sector and 2,500 MW in the private sector during the next five years.
Currently the government is stressing the need for overhauling and maintenance of the aged state-owned power plants remaining out of operation for long.
The power division under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR) is now monitoring the progress in overhauling and maintenance of the closed power plants.
The total electricity generation is now hovering at around 3,800 MW against the demand for over 5,200 MW across the country.