A planned second coal-fired unit at Rampal is effectively ditched amid environment outcry and a 442-megawatt grid-connected solar power plant will be built instead, officials said Thursday about the policy switch.
Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) has formally submitted a Development Project Proposal (DPP) to the Planning Commission (PC) seeking approval for the Tk 25.02-billion solar-power megaproject, they said.
The government plans to build the power station with local resources worth Tk 21.27 billion from its Power Development Fund and the remaining Tk 3.75 billion from the BPDB Internal Resources.
The solar-based power plant is being built beside the current 1320MW coal-fired power plant as the land was earmarked for building second unit of the station in future.
“The government has desisted from the decision of constructing another 1320MW coal-based power unit at Rampal considering the environmental issues. Now it has decided to set up a solar- power unit beside the current location,” said a senior BPDB official.
At the site of the much-talked-about Rampal Power plant, operated by ‘Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company Limited (BIFPCL)’, a 918.5-acres land is already developed for setting up the power station.
“We have decided to utilise the land. We will set up the 442MW solar-based power plant,” the official added. The Commission is now scrutinising the project.
According to the project proposal, if the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) clears the project, it is slated for completion by December 2029.
Once operational, it will stand as the largest utility-scale solar installation in Bangladesh.
The proposed solar park will be constructed on the land in Block-B of the existing Rampal power plant site in Bagerhat district in southern Bangladesh.
Originally, this block was reserved for a second coal-fired unit. However, keeping in line with the government’s climate obligations and the need to protect the ecologically sensitive Sundarbans mangrove forest, the second coal unit got permanently dropped.
Block-A continues to host the existing 1,320MW Bangladesh-India Friendship coal-fired plant.
A feasibility study conducted by the Infrastructure Investment Facilitation Company (IIFC) has revealed that since the land is already developed and boundary-protected, construction expenses will be significantly lower than standard greenfield projects, said another BPDB official.
According to the BPDB, the highly competitive tariff of Tk 6.18 per unit makes it roughly 43-percent cheaper than other upcoming installations, such as the proposed 220MW solar plant at Sonagazi in Feni the rate of which is estimated at Tk 8.87 per unit.
Meanwhile, local environmental groups have reiterated that any heavy energy expansion near the Sundarbans must strictly adhere to waste management-and ecological-safety guidelines to shield the delta from ecological distress.
This project marks a monumental step under Bangladesh’s National Renewable Energy Development Strategy, which targets generating 20 per cent of the country’s electricity from renewable sources by 2030.
Source: https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/economy/no-second-thermal-power-unit-solar-plant-to-be-built-instead-at-rampal
