Deal with Chinese co done for 100MW solar power plant
FE REPORT | Friday, 14 June 2024
A 100-megawatt new solar-power plant will be built in Madarganj of Jamalpur district under joint venture with a Chinese company at an investment worth US$170 million.
A joint venture (JV) agreement between China's CREC International Renewable Energy Company and Bangladesh's state-owned B-R Powergen Limited (BRPL) was inked Thursday at Biduyt Bhaban in Dhaka to build the power plant by December 2025.
The Chinese firm will have 70-percent stake in the JV, while the state-owned BRPL, jointly owned by Bangladesh Power Development Board and the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (REB), will have the rest 30 per cent.
Senior Secretary at Power Division under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR) Md Habibur Rahman was the chief guest at the deal-signing event.
Mr Rahman hopes the country will be able to generate around 1,200MW electricity from renewable energy by 2030-now that the world is on the cusp of transition into green-energy era to avert climatic catastrophe.
"The government has been working to generate 40 per cent of the country's overall electricity output from clean energy by 2040," he told the meet.
He urged the sponsor company to build the power plant in time.
Some 241 families will be rehabilitated under the project where a primary school, health centre, mosque, market, pond and graveyard will also be built.
Separately, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) officially launched the Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL)- financed Rooftop Solar Project (BRSP) on its campus the same day. The official ceremony declaring the project's commercial operation date (COD) was held at BUET's auditorium.
The 3.27-megawatt-peak (MWp) BRSP is a collaborative effort of BUET and GPPS Consortium Ltd.
Funded by IDCOL, the project is expected to generate substantial cost savings for BUET, reducing their electricity bills by an estimated Tk 600 million over the next 30 years.
With Vice-chancellor of BUET Prof Dr Satya Prashad Majumder in the chair, executive director & CEO of IDCOL Alamgir Morshed, deputy CEO & CFO of IDCOL S. M. Monirul Islam, managing director of the PEGEL a major shareholder of GPPS Consortium Ltd Asma Jahan Hoque and pro-VC of BUET Dr Abdul Zabbar Khan were special guests at the function.
Speaking on the occasion, the IDCOL top brass lauded BRSP as a "crucial step forward for renewable energy in Bangladesh's education sector".
He emphasized the project's alignment with government's commitment to clean energy and reducing dependence on fossil fuels.
Professor Majumder expressed his gratitude to IDCOL for their financial support, which played a key role in bringing this ambitious project to life. He also commended GPPS Consortium for their successful implementation despite challenges.