Payra coal-fired plant starts power generation
It'll be BD's largest electricity plant
FE REPORT | Tuesday, 14 January 2020
Payra coal-fired power plant has initiated electricity generation on Monday after successful synchronisation with the national power grid.
The power plant started with supplying around 100 megawatts (MW) of electricity, and it will increase generation, said a senior official of the Power Division.
The first unit of the plant, having the capacity of 660 MW, is expected to be commissioned later this month, and it will be the country's largest electricity plant.
Test run of the plant was initiated early this month to ensure smooth operations of the unit.
The partial commissioning of the Payra plant project in Patuakhali was delayed for physical and technical constraints.
The delay was caused by the presence of waterways and non-availability of transmission lines needed to evacuate electricity generated by the plant.
The Bangladesh China Power Company Ltd (BCPCL), a joint venture between the state-owned North-West Power Generation Company Ltd (NWPGCL) and the China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMC) of China, is implementing the power plant project.
The company has already imported around 160,000 tonnes of coal from Indonesia by December for commissioning the US$ 1.98-billion plant.
The plant is using bituminous and sub-bituminous coal, and its expected efficiency level is 48.05 per cent. It will require around 12,000 tonnes of coal daily to generate electricity.
The second unit, having the same capacity, is expected to go online within this year.
The consortium of the China Energy Engineering Group, the Northeast Electric Power Construction Co Ltd, and the China National Energy Engineering & Construction Co Ltd is implementing the power plant as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor.
The project is being implemented on a 70:30 debt equity ratio, meaning the NWPGCL and the CMC will have to provide 30 per cent fund of the total project cost, and mobilise the remaining 70 per cent from external sources.
The plant operator is providing 20 per cent equity to implement the project, and the remaining 80 per cent is being sourced as loans from the Exim Bank of China.