Rampal plant work to be launched on Oct 22: Tawfiq

FE Report Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is set to lay down the foundation stone of the 1,320-megawatt (mw) coal-fired Rampal power plant project in Bagerhat on October 22 despite strong protests against it to 'protect the Sundarbans'. "We shall lay down the foundation stone on October 22 to implement the Rampal power plant project. We will be careful in implementing the project, so that it does not affect the Sundarbans and the environment," Prime Minister's Adviser on energy issues Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury told newsmen at a press conference Wednesday. He said the protests against the Rampal power plant project, being implemented by Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company, are not based on proper information as well as logical and technological aspects. "We are on behalf of implementing the project not on the basis of emotion, but on the basis of scientific and logical explanations, by protecting the Sundarbans and its surrounding environment," Mr Chowdhury said. Regarding the Rampal power plant the PM's adviser said the project would be some 14 kilometers (km) away from the Sundarbans and 70 km away from the World Heritage. Many countries around the globe implemented coal-fired power plants even in forests and university areas, said Mr Chowdhury, citing an example of a coal-fired power plant that was implemented in a forest in Manhattan, New York. Power Division Secretary Monwar Islam said most modern super critical technology would be used in the Rampal power plant, which will result in less emission of hazardous carbon, sulfur and fly ash. The Department of Environment provided no objection over the project after checking a lot of queries on environmental grounds, he said. He said the location of the project was selected based on a feasibility study and consideration of many factors, including resettlement of lesser number of people. Mr Islam said around 10,000 tonnes of imported coal would be required to run the Rampal power plant project. "The transportation of coal would not create any sound pollution or affect the living equilibrium of the Sundarbans, as only one lighterage vessel having the capacity to carry 10,000 tonnes of coal will be enough to bring in the required quantity of coal to run the power plant," he said. The Akram Point, where a mother vessel with 80,000 tonnes capacity would arrive with coal, is located some 67 km off the power plant project site. He said there are international movements against coal-fired power plants fearing higher emissions of Carbon dioxide (CO2). But emissions of CO2 from Rampal power plant would be much lower than the tolerable limit as per the international standard. The government has moved to implement the Rampal power plant project, as it was included in the Power Sector Master Plan, he added. The Power Division under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources arranged the instant press conference at Biddut Bhaban in the city, which coincided with the long march, organised by the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports to protest the project. The long march set out to 'save the Sundarbans' and cancel implementation of the Rampal plant project reportedly started for Faridpur from Rajbari Wednesday afternoon. The ongoing protests have drawn international attention also, as influential media at home and abroad picked up the issue anew. Any detrimental impact on the Sundarbans due to a proposed coal-fired power plant could be suicidal for Bangladesh, which is likely to be the worst impacted by climate change, said the New York-based online news aggregator and blog Huffington Post (HP) Tuesday. However, it is important to note that Bangladesh needs energy and power plants, as the country's per capita power consumption is around 300 kilowatt hour (kwh), compared to 13,000 kwh in the United States and 750 kwh in India, said the online news aggregator. But the Rampal power plant has invoked the classic battle of development versus environment, which is a mainstream thought in the developing world. The Sundarbans forests act as a natural fence against the rising sea level. "The ongoing protests to protect their beloved Sundarbans are justified, if we look at the potential risks involved. The plant needs to import 4.72 million tonnes of coal per year," said the HP. This massive freight will need about 59 ships, each having 80,000-tonne capacity that take to the port on the bank of the Poshur river at Akram Point in the Bay of Bengal. The vessels carrying offloaded coal from the port to the proposed plant site will have to travel a distance of 40 km land and river routes through the Sundarbans, said the influential US news portal. These coal-carrying vehicles are not likely to be covered and may scatter vast amounts of coal dust during transportation of coal to the plant at the world heritage mangrove forests. The plant, after starting operation, will release fly ash, sulfur and other toxic chemicals throughout its entire life cycle, creating serious impact on the Sundarbans, the home of Royal Bengal tigers and other endangered animals and species. The proposed project also violates the environmental impact assessment guidelines for coal-based thermal power plants, the news aggregator alleged. The location of the plant, 14 kilometers from the Sundarbans, violates a basic guideline that dictates that such projects should be outside the 25-kilometre radius from the outer periphery of any ecologically sensitive areas. A haphazard handling of the project has revealed the underlying political pressures to implement it at all costs, said the HP. "The energy pathways that countries like India and Bangladesh will take in the coming years will be crucial in ascertaining the human and environmental safety for their people," the HP added.