A joint venture of consultancy firms based in India, Germany and Bangladesh is likely to be awarded the job for consulting for the construction of the proposed 1,200MW Matarbari power plant, Power Division sources have said.
A proposal in this regard by the Power Division, signed by Power Division Secretary Monowar Islam, is scheduled to be placed today before the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase.
According to the proposal – a copy of which has been obtained by the Dhaka Tribune, the evaluation committee gave its highest points to the joint venture of STEAG Energy Services (India) Ltd, STEAG Energy Services GmbH Essen (Germany) and BCL Bangladesh for a consultancy fee of Tk20.5 crore.
Other international firms who participated in the tender are M/S Black & Veatch Corporation (USA), Fichtner GmbH & Co KG (Germany) in association with Murhsed Associates Ltd (Bangladesh); and Tractebel Engineering Pvt Ltd (India) in association with Tractebel Engineering (Belgium) and IIFC (Bangladesh).
As part of the government’s master plan to turn Maheshkhali into a power hub, the state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board will set up a 1,200MW coal-fired power plant there, an official of the Power Division told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
Seeking anonymity, the official also said the Matarbari plant was getting the top-priority among the three coal-based power plants the government had already started work on setting up at different sites in the country.
The two other plants are a 275MW plant at Barapukuria and another 1,320MW plant at Rampal.
Talking to the Dhaka Tribune yesterday, Secretary Monowar said the Matarbari project will start this year and is expected to finish by 2023. A township will also be developed near the Matarbari power plant, he also said.
Meanwhile, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) has already confirmed its financial support for the Matarbari power plant project as well as setting up a port there.
In August last year, the government approved a Tk36,000 crore project to set up a deep sea port for handling imported coal for the proposed 1,200MW Matarbari power plant at Maheshkhali island in the Bay of Bengal.
Of the Tk36,000 crore project, Jica will finance Tk29,000 crore, while the rest of the fund will come from the government exchequer and a firm who will conduct the construction work, the Power Division official said.
