The Orion Group has sought 15 more days to complete financial deals for the construction of three private coal-based power plants with a total capacity of 1,087MW.
Power Division Additional Secretary Mofazzel Hossain said according to agreements, the company was supposed to complete financial closings by March 25. Earlier the government extended the time by six months until this month for the company to arrange fund for the projects, but it failed to do so, he added.
“Orion Group has sought more 15 days to complete financial closings and they will submit an action plan on the progress of the construction,” Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune on Saturday.
The Power Division on Saturday had a meeting with the business conglomerate at the Bidyut Bhaban on the progress of the projects, which were scheduled to go into production between March 2015 and December 2016.
On June 27, 2012, the government signed agreements with Orion Group to install the plants – one at Mawa in Munshiganj with a capacity of 522MW and two others with a combined capacity of 565MW in the Khulna region.
During the signing, Orion Group Chairman Obaidul Karim had said they would import coal from Australia and Indonesia. He had also promised that the plants would go into operation three months before schedule.
The Mawa power plant was supposed to start commercial production in 45 months and the Khulna plants in 36 months from the date of contract signing.
As per the contracts, the government will pay Tk4.79 for a unit of electricity produced at the Mawa plant and Tk4.45 for other two plants.
Orion Group is the first private sector company to enter into coal-based power generation. The country’s sole coal-based power plant is owned by the government at Barapukuria in Dinajpur, producing 250MW.
On January 29, 2012, the government struck a deal with India for installing a coal-based power plant with a capacity of 1,320MW at Rampal in Bagherhat near the Sundarbans.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to inaugurate the construction work of the joint venture project on October 5 amid protests from conservationists who foresee dangers from the plant on the biodiversity of the world’s largest mangrove forest. She is expected to be joined by her Indian counterpart Monomohan Singh through a video conference.
