BE Magazine

small-range power plants, termed as quick-rental
power plants. The decision initially was received
with much skepticism by many intellectuals and
policy advocates.
After a decade, the Power sector of Bangladesh
is on track for attaining mid-term and long-term
goals. The government has set the target of taking
electricity to 100% population by 2021 and increase
generation capacity to 24,000 MW.
Strategy taken by the Government of Bangladesh
(GoB) was to address acute shortage through
immediate short-term measure and to chalk out
mid-term and long-term measures to meet growing
demand for electricity. The government formulated
detailed supportive policies to accommodate
private players in the power generation sector. The
Power sector was liberalised for private investment
and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The Power
Cell was set up as the designated department, to
facilitate private sector investment in the Power
sector of the country.
Private sector was encouraged to generate
electricity under Public Private Partnership (PPP),
Rental Power Producer (RPP), and Independent
Power Plant (IPP) arrangements as well as Captive
Power. Detailed plans were chalked out to produce
electricity from a mix of diverse energy sources,
such as fossil fuels including natural gas, coal
and LNG; nuclear power; and renewable sources,
including wind and solar energy.
Boosted by favourable investment policy offered
by GoB, private sector power generation witnessed
substantial growth in the past one decade. The
private sector is contributing about 55% of the
total electricity produced, against 45% produced
by state-owned power plants.
Attracted by the investment potentiality, many
foreign companies have been keen to invest in
Power sector of Bangladesh. In 2018, Bangladesh
received a record FDI of $3.61 billion, of which the
power sector alone attracted $1.01 billion, equaling
27% of total FDI.
Companies from Russia, Britain, Germany,
Japan, China, India and the United States have
signed investment agreements with Bangladesh
authorities to set up mega power plants.
The Russian state-owned Rosatam Atomic
Energy Corporation is investing US$12.65 billion
in the lone nuclear power plant of Bangladesh
(2,400MW) at Rooppur. The Russian Federation
and GoB signed a strategic co-operation agreement
in November 2011. Detailed engineering design
and site preparatory works for the project were
completed by the end of 2013. The Bangladesh
Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority (BAERA)
issued license for the design and construction of
the Rooppur units one and two in November 2017
and July 2018, respectively.
As per information uploaded in Energy Bangla
webpage, the Coal Power Generation Company
Bangladesh Limited (CPGCBL) signed a contract
with Sumitomo-led Japanese consortium, in July
2017, for construction of a 1,200MW coal-fired
power project at Matarbari, worth US$4.5 billion.
The Matarbari Coal-fired Power Project is the
second largest power project in Bangladesh, next
to Rooppur Nuclear Power Project.
BPDB signed a joint venture agreement with China
Huadian Hong Kong Company Ltd (CHDHK) in
May 2018 to construct a 1,320-megawatt (MW)
coal-fired power plant at Maheshkhali in Cox’s
Bazar, at a cost of U$2.0 billion.
Earlier in November 2017, the cabinet approved
a joint venture agreement between Bangladesh’s
state-owned Rural Power Company Ltd and
Norinco International China to build two power
plants to produce 1320 mw electricity. The plants
will be constructed at Paira in Patuakhali.
China’s energy giant PowerChina signed an
agreement and a contract in January 2019 with
GCM Resources, a leading British resource
exploration company for development of a coalfired
power plant in Bangladesh’s northern district
Dinajpur. The proposed project is reportedly part
of a broader strategy by GCM to generate 6,000
MW of low cost electricity for the Bangladesh
market utilizing domestic coal.
American company GE signed a deal with BPDB in
2018 to build a 3600MW LNG-based power plant
on Moheshkhali Island in Cox’s Bazar at a cost of
US$ 2.8 billion.
Indian state-owned firm National Thermal Power
Company (NTPC) formed a joint venture with
Bangladesh Power Development Board to construct
1320 MW Rampal Power Project at estimated cost
of US$ 1.6 billion.
Bangladesh’s North-West Power Generation
Company signed a deal with Siemens AG of
Germany in February 2019 to build an LNG-based
3,600 megawatt power plant in Patuakhali’s Payra
at estimated cost of $2.8 billion. Of the total cost,
80% is expected to come from loans and rest
will remain as equity. Countries like Singapore,
Malaysia and Saudi Arabia are reportedly willing
to invest in the power sector of Bangladesh.
17
power & energy
December, 2019
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