The construction work on the widely discussed 1320-megawatt (MW) Maitree Super Thermal Power Project, also known as Rampal Power Plant in Bagerhat, is going on in full swing from September after a six-month pause due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It is expected that the first unit having capacity 660MW of electricity will go into operation at the end of this year, an official said.
Bangladesh India Friendship Power Company Ltd (BIFPCL), a joint venture of Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and NTPC of India is constructing the power plant with two units worth Tk 160 billion at Rampal in Bagerhat district located about 23 km southward of Khulna City and 14 km north of Mongla Port.
Many environmentalists are strongly opposed to the construction of the power plant, arguing that the Rampal project will have an adverse effect on the environment and cause huge damage to the nearby Sundarbans due to coal-fired power generation.
However, the government says the type of technology it has decided to use in Rampal will not harm the Sundarbans.
Engineer Md Belayet Hossain, Chairman of Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) said ‘We hope that the first unit of Rampal power plant would start its generation by the end of 2021 and the second unit by early 2022. The government is committed to bringing every house under 100% electricity during the ‘Mujib Barsho’ to mark Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s birth centenary by this year. With this goal in mind, the construction work of Rampal Power Plant is being taken forward at a fast pace.’
‘The power plant is being constructed while maintaining all international environmental standards and imported high quality coal will be used there. More electricity can be generated using less coal through the use of ultra-super technology,’ he added.
The BIFPCL official said around 60 percent of the physical work of the project has already been done. More than 7,000 workers including Bangladeshi workers are working in the power plant project. Considering the environmental impact on the Sundarbans, the height of the chimney of the coal-fired Rampal power plant has been fixed at 275 meters.
However Bangladesh has entered the Ultra Super Critical Club with the launch of the 1320MW Payra coal-fired power plant last year, making the country the 7th nation in Asia to build such a power plant. India has a power plant in South Asia. There are also power plants of Ultra SuperCritical Technology in China, Taiwan, Japan and Malaysia in Asia. Except Bangladesh and China, other countries do not use covered coal yards in Ultra Super Critical Technology based power plants.
An official said ultra-super critical technology can generate more electricity by burning less coal. This technology does not pollute the environment. Modern technology has been used in pollution control.
Although the generation efficiency is two percent higher than that of super critical, the cost of ultra-super critical technology is much higher. For this reason, many countries are not interested in building ultra-super critical power plants.
