MELBOURNE, 21 March 2022: Bangladesh Prime Minister Shiekh Hasina declared Bangladesh is now 100 percent covered by electricity. She was inaugurating today the Payra power plant, reports The Daily Star. The Export-Import Bank of China lent $1.96 billion for the project. The company started its operation in 2016. The milestone puts Bangladesh ahead of India and Pakistan among the South Asian countries.
The Daily Star report says, ” Bangladesh-China Power Company (Pvt) Limited (BCPCL), a joint venture between state-owned North-West Power Generation Company Bangladesh Limited (NWPGCL) and China National Machinery Import & Export Corporation, has set up the plant using Ultra Supercritical Technology at over $2 billion as part of a development partnership on 982.77 acres of land.
This kind of coal-fired power plant using Ultra Supercritical Technology is the thirteenth in the world and seventh in South Asia.
The Ultra Supercritical Technology used for this plant aims at protecting the environment in line with the government’s policy, officials said.
After undergoing test runs for about five months, the first unit of the Payra power plant started commercial operation in May, 2020. In October, 2020, the second unit of the 660 MW plant, a joint venture of Bangladesh and China, started its commercial operation.
The Power Transmission Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) had undertaken a number of transmission projects to facilitate the evacuation of electricity from the Payra power project.
These transmission projects include construction of 160km 400kV double circuit line from Payra plant to Gopalganj, 164.6km Aminbazar–Mawa–Gopalganj-Mongla 400 kV double circuit line and 9.4km river-crossing line close to Padma Bridge.”
The Payara coal-fired power station will produce 12,000MW of electricity, including another 1,320MW coal-fired plant and several other plants that will run on LNG and renewables. Officials say the plant will be operated at full steam only once the 440kV transmission line is established through the Padma River.
The power plant will burn about 13,000 tonnes of coal a day. It has a 76.30-acre dumping zone where 25 years’ worth of byproducts can be kept.
This story is sourced from Te Daily Star, Dhaka.
