Private co to install 18-mw solar power plant
FHM Humayan Kabir | Wednesday, 2 March 2011
FHM Humayan Kabir
Bangladesh is going to enter into a phase of extensive solar power generation, as the government has allowed a private farm to install an 18-megawatt solar power plant, officials said Tuesday. Power Division officials said the state-owned Power Development Board (PDB) has already signed a deal with the local company for purchasing power from the proposed 18-mw plant at Bazitpur in Kishoreganj. "It is a piece of great news for Bangladesh. If the plant can properly supply electricity to the national grid, it will be a major breakthrough for the country's power sector," a senior Power Division official told the FE. A local private farm -- Solarium Power Limited (SPL) -- is going to set up the country's first large-scale solar power system to supply electricity to the national grid. The proposed plant would also contribute to reducing carbon emission to a significant amount. Bangladesh is heavily dependent on natural gas for generating electricity. The present gas supply crunch remains as a major hurdle to the country's power generation against continuously growing demand. Some private farms and state-owned agencies have installed solar systems, which can generate small-scale electricity for domestic purposes only. SPL will set up the 18mw solar power plant, investing Tk 2.00 billion within two years from the date of signing the contract, an executive of the company said. The state-owned PDB will purchase electricity from the plant at Tk 5.50 per kilowatt hour, he said. A PDB official said, "The company's proposal is going to be placed before the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase tomorrow (Thursday). If it gets the approval, SPL will be awarded contract to install the solar power plant." He also said: "Our technical team has already examined Solarium's capacity for generating electricity using sunlight. We have also negotiated with the company and asked them to submit details." SPL has submitted US$ 40,831 fund to PDB as performance guarantee against their power generation project. "After getting the performance guarantee, we have signed a preliminary deal with the private farm to purchase their power for supplying to the national grid," the PDB official added. SPL has proposed to utilise Japanese generator for the power plant, which would cut 100,545 tonnes of carbon emission annually. The government has allowed the new local farm to generate environment-friendly power, as it is committed to produce at least 5.0 per cent of the country's total power generation through renewable energy sources by 2015 and 10 per cent by 2020. Bangladesh's power plants can generate about 4,200-mw of electricity per day against its demand for more than 5,500-mw. Out of the existing 5,823-mw installed capacity, the gas-based plants generate 82.81 per cent electricity, furnace oil-operated ones, 5.75 per cent, coal-based units, 4.29 per cent, hydro-electric stations, 3.95 per cent, and diesel-run units, 3.19 per cent.
Bangladesh is going to enter into a phase of extensive solar power generation, as the government has allowed a private farm to install an 18-megawatt solar power plant, officials said Tuesday. Power Division officials said the state-owned Power Development Board (PDB) has already signed a deal with the local company for purchasing power from the proposed 18-mw plant at Bazitpur in Kishoreganj. "It is a piece of great news for Bangladesh. If the plant can properly supply electricity to the national grid, it will be a major breakthrough for the country's power sector," a senior Power Division official told the FE. A local private farm -- Solarium Power Limited (SPL) -- is going to set up the country's first large-scale solar power system to supply electricity to the national grid. The proposed plant would also contribute to reducing carbon emission to a significant amount. Bangladesh is heavily dependent on natural gas for generating electricity. The present gas supply crunch remains as a major hurdle to the country's power generation against continuously growing demand. Some private farms and state-owned agencies have installed solar systems, which can generate small-scale electricity for domestic purposes only. SPL will set up the 18mw solar power plant, investing Tk 2.00 billion within two years from the date of signing the contract, an executive of the company said. The state-owned PDB will purchase electricity from the plant at Tk 5.50 per kilowatt hour, he said. A PDB official said, "The company's proposal is going to be placed before the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase tomorrow (Thursday). If it gets the approval, SPL will be awarded contract to install the solar power plant." He also said: "Our technical team has already examined Solarium's capacity for generating electricity using sunlight. We have also negotiated with the company and asked them to submit details." SPL has submitted US$ 40,831 fund to PDB as performance guarantee against their power generation project. "After getting the performance guarantee, we have signed a preliminary deal with the private farm to purchase their power for supplying to the national grid," the PDB official added. SPL has proposed to utilise Japanese generator for the power plant, which would cut 100,545 tonnes of carbon emission annually. The government has allowed the new local farm to generate environment-friendly power, as it is committed to produce at least 5.0 per cent of the country's total power generation through renewable energy sources by 2015 and 10 per cent by 2020. Bangladesh's power plants can generate about 4,200-mw of electricity per day against its demand for more than 5,500-mw. Out of the existing 5,823-mw installed capacity, the gas-based plants generate 82.81 per cent electricity, furnace oil-operated ones, 5.75 per cent, coal-based units, 4.29 per cent, hydro-electric stations, 3.95 per cent, and diesel-run units, 3.19 per cent.