The government is planning to set up a hydro-power company in Bangladesh which will not only generate but also import this kind of pro-environment electricity from neighbouring countries.
It is likely to be named Hydro Power Generation Company Limited and will look to import electricity from the hydro-power plants in high altitude countries like Nepal and Bhutan.
“This will be the country’s first ever hydro-power generation company to both generate and import … We have made a decision on principle to set the company up,” said a senior official of the government’s Power Division.
He said the division had already directed the Power Development Board (PDB) to prepare articles of association and relevant memorandum of association required to form the company.
“The legal infrastructure for setting up the company under the Power Division is now being prepared, and it will be registered with the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms,” said the official who did not want to be named.
The 230MW Karnafuli Hydroelectric Power Station, built in 1962, is currently the only major source of hydro-power in Bangladesh.
A recent study conducted by a US consultancy firm said that two rivers in the Chittagong Hill Tracts could potentially generate 79MW. The Power Cell, under the Power Division, supervised the study conducted by Streams Tech, Inc (STI).
The study said that 58.33MW power can be generated from the Sangu River and 20.83MW from the Matamuhuri River.
The Power Division official also said the government is also planning to form a company to conduct the operations and maintenance of public and private power plants and the activation of two new distribution companies – South Zone Power Distribution Company and North-west Zone Power Distribution Company.
A new distribution company – the Central Zone Power Distribution Company – will also be formed and the 740MW Ghorasal power plant will be transformed into a corporation.
