CHATTOGRAM, Oct 28: Matarbari Deep Sea Port will turn Matarbari into the most important export-import hub in South Asia.
The government acquired 2,600 acres of land for setting up three Power plants and the deep sea port.
Matarbari now hosts a coal jetty, an LNG terminal and two coal-based power plants with a combined capacity of 1,200 MW, set to begin partial operation this year.
Single Point Mooring (SPM) for pumping crude petroleum to Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL).
The Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Limited (CPGCBL) implemented two coal-fired Power plants and the Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) is implementing the Matarbari Deep sea port. Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) has implemented the Single Point Mooring (SPM) for pumping crude petroleum to Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL).
The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry has already set up an LNG station at Moheshkhali Island.
The interim government will set up a land based LNG terminal at Matarbari, the first of its kind in the country.
The tender is expected to be floated Internationally in January.
The proposed land based terminal will have the capacity of handling 1,000 million cft of gas.
The construction the land based terminal t is expected to be completed by 2029.
Meanwhile, two floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) have been set up by Petrobangla and Summit Group at Moheshkhali Island.
According to Energy Ministry, the floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) will be able to produce 1,000 million cft of gas daily, each with 500 million cft capacity.
Bangladesh's 21 per cent demand of gas was met through imported LNG in fiscal 2020-21.
Matarbari Deep Sea Port holds immense strategic significance for the country.
Cconstruction of a 14.3km long, 250m wide and 18.5m deep channel for the port has been completed.
The work to widen the channel by another 100 metres is in progress.
The Matarbari Deep Sea Port appears as a pivotal solution to the pressing capacity challenges by promising to expand vessel capacity, shorten transit time, reduce the costs and boost regional trade.
The multipurpose terminal's expected capacity to cater to large cargo vessels, capable of transporting 80,000 to 100,000 tonnes of goods up from 20,000-30,000 tonnes.
Matarbari Deep Sea Port is expected to facilitate trade in South Asia.
Besides, two units of Matarbari Ultra Super Critical Coal-Fired Power Project with a generation capacity of 1200 MW set up at a cost of TK 51,854.88 crore are is production, according to Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Limited (CPGCBL) sources.
The generation capacity of each unit is 600 MW.
The 1,200MW power project, costing Tk51,854 crore, was constructed on 1,414 acres of land in Matarbari and Dhalghata Unions of Cox's Bazar District.
A 600MW unit began production in July 2023 and the other in December 2023.
The distance between SPM and the storage tanks in Matarbari is 16 km offshore while the distance between Matarbari Storage tanks and the ERL tanks is 94 km.
The pipeline includes 73 km on-shore and e 37 km offshore from SPM to ERL.
Indonesia's state-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina Power will construct a 500 MW solar power project on the remaining land of Maheshkhali's Matarbari 1200 MW coal-fired power plant.
Bangladesh Coal Power Generation Company Limited and PT Pertamina Power signed an MoU in Dhaka recently.
Once built through a new joint venture company, this will be the largest solar plant in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh will provide the land, and Pertamina will provide around $500 million.
