Second unit likely to begin commercial operation in June

CHATTOGRAM, May 8: The second unit of the Matarbari Ultra Super Critical Coal-Fired Power Project with the generation capacity of 600 MW will begin commercial operation in June next, said Managing Director of Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Ltd (CPGCL) Abul Kalam Azad.

The unit is now undergoing test run which is expected to be completed during the current month, he said.

"So we shall go to commercial operation in the next month of June," Abul Kalam Azad said.
Earlier, the first unit went on generation in the past year.

The trial production of the first unit of two-unit power plant has been completed in the first week of September last year after test of over one month generating 600 MW power.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina opened the first unit in November last year.

Meanwhile, CPGCBL, a state-owned enterprise of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh, developed the project at a cost of Tk 51,854.88 crore.

If the plant goes to commercial operation, the entire plant will require 10,000 tonnes of coal every day, each unit requiring 5,000 tonnes.

Four tanks having storage capacity of 17 lakh tonnes have already been built alongside two jetties at the project site to unload the coal to the tanks directly from the ships.

The tanks have the capacity of storing coal for 60 days. It will require one and a half day or two days to unload coal from a ship.

The power plant had been built adjacent to the sea, which will not be affected by cyclone or tide, as a-14 meter above sea level embankment was constructed and the power plant is located inside the dam keeping in mind the highest tide in Bangladesh at a height of 10 meters.

The Matarbari Ultra Super Critical Coal Fired Power Plant Project involves building a coal-fired power plant with the capacity of generating 1,200 megawatts (MW) of power and affiliated facilities over a period of seven years with the funding provided by JICA.

Japans Sumitomo, Toshiba, and IHI collaborated as a consortium to implement the project, with POSCO E&C subcontracted to construct the major part of the plant.

This project is being implemented to meet growing electricity demand and to improve stable power supply by installing 1200 MW (600MWx2 units) Ultra Super Critical Coal-fired Power Plant at Matarbari Area of Maheshkhali Upazila under Coxs Bazar district. Total cost of the project is Tk 51,854.88 crore (GOB Tk 6,406.16 cr., JICA Tk 43,921.03 cr., CPGCBL Taka 1,527.69 cr.).

Japanese loans and grants are being utilized in a wide range of areas including power, roads, bridges, telecommunication, agriculture, health, education, water supply and sanitation, rural development, environment, human resource development etc. The Japanese assistance contributed significantly in overall development of the country.

The commissioning of the Matarbari coal-fired power plant will augment Bangladeshs overall electricity-generation capacity from coal.

JICA provided an Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan of ¥10.74 billion ($90m) for the project in June 2014. The ODA loan has a repayment period of 30 years and grace period of ten years.

JICA awarded another ODA loan worth ¥2.65 billion ($20m) to the Government of Bangladesh in June 2018 for the development of the Matarbari port.

Roads and Highways Department (RHD), Bangladesh contracted DevCon for the detailed design and supervision of access road construction for the Matarbari coal-fired power hub.