Two solar plants of 310MW set to get nod

Two more solar power plants with a total generation capacity of 310 megawatt in Jamalpur and Munshiganj are set to get approval soon, officials have said.
The proposal-processing committee under Power Division recently finalised the tariff rate for the plants and the authorities forwarded the proposal to the cabinet committee on government purchase for approval.
One plant with a 180-MW capacity will be set up in Jamalpur Sadar upazila on a 'build-own-and-operate' basis.
A consortium of the China-based Hangzhou Boiler Company Ltd and the locally-owned Max Infrastructure Ltd will jointly set up the facility.
Initially, they proposed a tariff rate of $0.119/kWh or Tk 13.09, which the processing committee found higher compared to the tariff approvals given to similar plants in the recent past.
The committee asked the sponsor company to lower the proposed tariff. After negotiations, the company agreed on a new tariff at $0.0999/kWh.
The committee recommended that electricity be bought from the plant at the newly proposed tariff rate on a 'no electricity, no pay' basis.
If the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) buys electricity from the plant at the proposed rate for a period of 20 years, some Tk 64.10 billion has to be spent from the exchequer.
The sponsor company will have to build a 21-kilometre 123-kilovolt double-circuit transmission line for power evacuation to Muktagachha grid substation.
It also needs to keep an option of using the line by the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh and other power companies.
On the other hand, the 130-MW solar power plant will be built in Gazaria upazila under Munshiganj district.
The joint venture of Energon Renewables (BD) Ltd and PWR Energy Trading LLC will set up the plant on the same 'build-own-and-operate' basis.
The consortium in its initial proposal sought a tariff rate of $0.138/kWh, which was later lowered to $0.10/kWh through negotiations, officials said.
The joint venture will have to build a 7.5-kilometre transmission line to evacuate power to the nearest grid substation.
Once approved by the cabinet committee on government purchase, the BPDB will enter into an agreement to buy electricity from the plant for 20 years at Tk 46.34 billion, according to Power Division officials.
When asked, Dipal C Barua, former president of Bangladesh Solar and Renewable Energy Association, said nowadays the government is approving renewable power plant-related proposals with utmost importance.
"If this positive attitude towards renewable energy continues, the country will see huge green power expansion in the near future," he told the FE.
Mr Barua, also chairman of the Bright Green Energy Foundation, said the installation of more renewable energy-based power plants would help lessen dependence on fossil fuel and cut emissions.
An institutional framework for this sector like setting up of a renewable energy ministry or a division under the power ministry is required to extend required support to the sector, according to him.
At present, Bangladesh has the capacity to generate some 1,195 MW of electricity from renewable sources.

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