In yet another massive step in the power sector, the government has signed an agreement with German-based tech giant Siemens AG for building a 3,600 MW LNG-fired power plant.
The deal was signed at a hotel in Dhaka on Friday. According to sources, the deal was supposed to be inked in June, but was delayed over unforeseen circumstances.
The state-run North West Power Generation Company Limited (NWPGCL) Company Secretary Dipak Kumar Dhali and Richard Reisig, president of Siemens Power Gas and Power, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective entities.
Power Division Secretary Dr Ahmad Kaikaus, Micheal Schulthesiss, head of mission, German embassy in Dhaka and NWPGCL CEO Engineer AM Khurshedul Alam, among others, were present at the ceremony.
Though the project cost for the latest joint venture was not was officially revealed, Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) sources confirmed that the amount is around $3bn.
Adjacent to the Payra 1,320 MW thermal power plant in Patuakhali, the LNG-based power plant featuring 63% efficiency will have its first phase completed by December 2021, and the second and last phase is expected to be completed by end of 2022.
There will be three units, having 1,200MW capacity each, in the power plant where H-class turbines will be used. A Memorandum of understanding (MoU) for this joint-venture was inked on November 5, 2017.
The land required for the project has already been acquired, but its amount has not yet been made public. Feasibility study for the project has also been completed.
On July 11, the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with US-based General Electric Company (GE), to jointly build a 3,600MW LNG-fired combined cycle power plant.
In another major power sector investment earlier in the day, local conglomerate Summit Group, Japan's Mitsubishi Corporation and the US's General Electric Company sealed a deal for a 2,400MW power plant.
The government has a master plan for generating 24,000MW by 2021, 40,000MW by 2030 and 60,000 by 2041, which altogether requires a mammoth investment of around $80bn.
