Siemens, Cobra to install Indo-Bangla power grid
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
FHM Humayan Kabir
The government has assigned two foreign firms the task of installing the Bangladesh-India power transmission grid by next year, to import 500 megawatt (MW) of electricity from the neighbouring country, officials said Monday. "We have signed US$107 million deal with German firm Siemens and $9.40 million with Spanish firm Cobra for installing a substation and overhead transmission line respectively," said Managing Director (MD) of the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) Jamal Ullah. "The Siemens will get maximum two years time and the Cobra one and a half years to complete the cross-border grid construction work. The firms will start construction of the grid within a couple of months," he told the FE. The Spanish firm Cobra Instalaciones Y Servicios, SA will install a nearly 30-kilometre-long, 400-kilovolt (KV) transmission line from Bheramara of Bangladesh to Bangram on India-Bangladesh border. The Siemens will set up a substation at Bheramara that will convert 400kv high voltage Indian power for inserting to Bangladesh's existing 230kv transmission line, the PGCB officials said. Under a deal between the governments of Bangladesh and India, a 400kv transmission line of nearly 100-kilometre length will be set up from Bheramara to Baharampur, India. The Bangladesh government has undertaken the project, with a total cost of $149 million, to set up the cross-border transmission grid. Manila-based lender, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), is providing $100 million credit for the scheme. The PGCB MD said the Indian government also assigned contractors in January to install power transmission line on its side, so that the entire grid is completed simultaneously with Bangladesh. "Once the transmission grid is completed by 2012, India will be able to supply power to Bangladesh," he said. Bangladesh signed a 35-year power transmission agreement with India on July 26 last year. The aim of the deal is to import 250mw of electricity from India in the first year, starting from late 2012, and 500mw subsequently. The deal also keeps provision for Bangladesh to export power to India in the future. The transmission system will have the capacity to exchange 500mw of power soon after it is completed. Following serious power outage in Bangladesh, the two neighbouring countries signed deal for setting up the back-to-back high voltage transmission line, during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to India in last January. The demand of power in Bangladesh is increasing at a rate of about 8.0 per cent per year, as its booming industrial sector requires new electricity connections everyday. The country's ailing power sector can daily supply around 4,000mw of electricity, against the demand for over 5,500mw.
The government has assigned two foreign firms the task of installing the Bangladesh-India power transmission grid by next year, to import 500 megawatt (MW) of electricity from the neighbouring country, officials said Monday. "We have signed US$107 million deal with German firm Siemens and $9.40 million with Spanish firm Cobra for installing a substation and overhead transmission line respectively," said Managing Director (MD) of the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) Jamal Ullah. "The Siemens will get maximum two years time and the Cobra one and a half years to complete the cross-border grid construction work. The firms will start construction of the grid within a couple of months," he told the FE. The Spanish firm Cobra Instalaciones Y Servicios, SA will install a nearly 30-kilometre-long, 400-kilovolt (KV) transmission line from Bheramara of Bangladesh to Bangram on India-Bangladesh border. The Siemens will set up a substation at Bheramara that will convert 400kv high voltage Indian power for inserting to Bangladesh's existing 230kv transmission line, the PGCB officials said. Under a deal between the governments of Bangladesh and India, a 400kv transmission line of nearly 100-kilometre length will be set up from Bheramara to Baharampur, India. The Bangladesh government has undertaken the project, with a total cost of $149 million, to set up the cross-border transmission grid. Manila-based lender, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), is providing $100 million credit for the scheme. The PGCB MD said the Indian government also assigned contractors in January to install power transmission line on its side, so that the entire grid is completed simultaneously with Bangladesh. "Once the transmission grid is completed by 2012, India will be able to supply power to Bangladesh," he said. Bangladesh signed a 35-year power transmission agreement with India on July 26 last year. The aim of the deal is to import 250mw of electricity from India in the first year, starting from late 2012, and 500mw subsequently. The deal also keeps provision for Bangladesh to export power to India in the future. The transmission system will have the capacity to exchange 500mw of power soon after it is completed. Following serious power outage in Bangladesh, the two neighbouring countries signed deal for setting up the back-to-back high voltage transmission line, during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to India in last January. The demand of power in Bangladesh is increasing at a rate of about 8.0 per cent per year, as its booming industrial sector requires new electricity connections everyday. The country's ailing power sector can daily supply around 4,000mw of electricity, against the demand for over 5,500mw.