Sino-Bangla JV signs deal to build Payra power plant

 Finance Minister AMA Muhith Tuesday urged foreign investors to invest in the country, saying Bangladesh is a "very good" place for investment.
 He said the country's growth is being accelerated with power sector growth.
The Finance Minister made the call, while speaking as the chief guest at a deal-signing ceremony of the 1,320 megawatt (MW) Payra thermal power plant project at a city hotel Tuesday.
The Bangladesh-China Power Company Limited (BCPCL) inked the $1.56 billion contract with a Chinese consortium for engineering, procurement and construction of the 1,320MW coal-fired power plant near the Payra seaport in Patuakhali district.
The BCPCL is a 50-50 joint venture between the state-run North-West Power Generation Company of Bangladesh and China National Machinery Import & Export Corporation.
The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor is a consortium of China Energy Engineering Group Northeast No 1 Electric Power Construction Co Ltd or NEPC and China National Energy Engineering and Construction Co Ltd, China or CECC. The Chinese consortium won the contract as the lone bidder.
Dipak Kumar Dhali, company secretary of BCPCL, and Cai Ming, president of NEPC, and CECC secretary Chen Yuyu signed the contract on behalf of the respective parties.
The 660 MW first unit of the power plant at Payra is expected to supply electricity from June, 2019.
Six months later, the second unit of the same capacity would start power supply.  The EPC contractor will arrange $1.56 billion finance from the Chinese banking system as credit.
The BCPCL is expecting to sell each unit of electricity from the plant at Tk 6.65 to the state-run Power Development Board, officials said.
The company estimated the possible price of electricity considering the supply cost of coal up to the project site at $100 per tonne.
Prime minister's energy adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, state minister for power, energy and mineral resources Nasrul Hamid and the ministry's parliamentary standing committee chairman Md Tajul Islam, principal secretary to the prime minister's office Md Abul Kalam Azad, power division secretary Monwar Islam, energy division secretary Nazimuddin Chowdhury and Chinese ambassador at Dhaka Ma Mingqiang among others attended the contract signing ceremony.
Speaking on the occasion, Nasrul Hamid said that at least $40 billion investment would be required in power sector by 2030.
 'We would offload shares of successful power projects to raise funds at home and abroad,' he said.
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