The Matarbari power plant will go on an experimental electricity generation in June and become fully operational in December this year, officials said.
The construction of a mega coal-run power project is going on in Maheshkhali’s Matarbari near the Bay of Bengal between Chattogram and Cox's Bazar.
The work of the power plant is progressing in a hurry to play a major role in the crisis by raising the country's biggest chimney.
Abul Kalam Azad, Executive Director of Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Limited (CPGCBL), said that they were bringing coal for the power plant.
“We will start firing with coal. We will give power to the grid experimentally in June and the plant is expected to be fully operational in December,” he mentioned.
He said that a 275 meter high chimney had been made in the power plant.
“It is the tallest chimney in Bangladesh. Besides, yard work for keeping coal has also been completed. Six months of coal can be stored there for use in power plants. This power plant will need 10,000 tons of coal per day,” he informed.
Here the coal will come directly from the ship into the power plant, he said, adding no one will understand that it is a coal-based power plant as there will be no trace of coal anywhere.
Azad said, “The cost of transporting coal here will be very low. Therefore, the cost of power generation here will also be lower than from other coal-based power plants.”
He also said that 1,200 megawatts of electricity from this power plant will be connected to the national grid if it is fully operational.
Meanwhile, a 14 km long and 350 m wide channel has been constructed around the power plant and deep sea port.
The power station is located at the very end of the channel. Preparations are underway for the construction of seaports on both sides of the channel.
The power station has its own jetty at the end of the channel. Coal will be brought from abroad by sea. The 80,000 tonnes capacity mother vessel will come directly to the jetty. Coal will go directly from the ship to the power plant. As a result, there will be no transportation costs and no wasted time. Electricity will be produced at low cost.
The construction of a coal storage yard has also been completed. The 275 meter long chimney of the power plant can be seen from far away. Various construction works are going on across the vast area.
The Japanese contractor started the main work to build the power plant in Matarbari from August 2017. This power plant with a production capacity of 1,200 megawatts is being built on 1,608 acres of land.
Meanwhile, the cost of the “Matarbari Ultra Super Critical Coal Fired Power” project was approved in 2014 at an estimated cost of Tk 35,984 crore.
Now the cost of this project has increased to Tk 51,854 crore. A loan agreement was signed between the Government of Bangladesh and JICA on 16 June 2014.
JICA has been providing Tk 43,921 crore as project support, the remaining Tk 7,933 crore will be provided from the own funds of Bangladesh government and CPGCBL.
A consortium of Sumitomo, Toshiba and IHI was awarded the engineering, procurement and construction contract for the project, in August 2017.