CHATTOGRAM, Mar 22: A Singapore flag carrier ship MV Orient Orchid loaded with 63,000 metric tons of coal mixed with mud arrived in Matarbari Port on March 17. The coal have been imported for use by Matarbari Coal-Fired Power Plant.
The authorities of the plant alleged that the coal was mixed with mud and not fit for use as fuel for the plant. For this reason the ship had been sent to the Outer Anchorage of Chattogram Port.
Meanwhile, a total of 22,350 tonnes of coal had been unloaded from the ship. The authorities found that the coal was mixed with mud. They had decided not to receive the consignment of coal.
In this connection, a meeting will be held at the Ministry of Power and Energy at Dhaka on Sunday. The meeting will take a decision in this regard.
The Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Ltd (CPGCBL) has implemented two units of Matarbari Ultra Super Critical Coal-Fired Power Project. CPGCBL, a state-owned enterprise of the government of Bangladesh, developed the project at a cost of Tk 51,854.88 crore. The generation capacity of each unit is 600 MW totalling of 1,200 MW by two units.
The 1,200 MW power project, costing Tk 51,854 crore, was constructed on 1,414 acres of land in Matarbari and Dhalghata Unions of Cox's Bazar District. One 600 MW unit began production in July 2023 while another in December in same year.
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.
It was reported in March 2014, "Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh (CPGCB) will get $4.53 billion loan according to the agreement with Japanese donor agency Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for the construction of a 1,200 MW coal-fired plant at Matarbari on Maheshkhali Island in Cox's Bazar. In February 2014, a media report described the approximately $4 billion price-tag of the Matarbari project as "staggering."
