The government considers forming a “coal club” aimed at sharing knowledge and experience among the public and private sector operators of the coal-fired power plants.
Power Division has invited officials of coal-fired plant projects to a meeting on Sunday at the Biduyt Bhaban to discuss the idea.
“The idea of the proposed coal club is to share and exchange the knowledge and experience among the sponsors and operators of coal-fired power plants in the public and private sectors”, said Anwar Hossain, a joint secretary of the Power Division.
The government has drawn up a “Power System Master Plan (PSMP)” to increase power generation across the country by setting up a large number of coal-based power plants.
As per the PSMP, the country’s 50 percent of the power will come from the coal-fired power plants by 2030 when the country’s power generation is expected to cross over 40,000 MW to serve a demand of 38,000 MW.
To achieve the target, the government has signed some contracts with local and foreign companies to set up a number of base-load coal-fired power plants.
These power plant projects include 1320 MW Rampal power plant in joint venture with Indian NTPC in Bagerhat, 1320 MW power plant with Chinese company in Patuakhali, 1320 MW power plant at Maheshkhali, 522 MW power plant in Mawa, 283 MW In Dhaka and 283 MW in Chittagong.
Japanese donor agency JICA has been conducting a comprehensive study to create a coal-fired power plant in Matarbari area of Cox’s Bazar where the government has planned to create a hub of 9000 MW coal-fired power plant.
As per the recommendation of JICA, officials said, the government has set up a state-owned commercial entity — Coal Power Generation Company of Bangladesh Ltd — which will implement the future power plants in Matarbari area.
Source: UNBConnect
