News Details

MoU likely to set up 1320MW power plant at Moheskhali


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 Shamim Jahangir
  The government is going to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Thai state-owned Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) for setting up a 1320MW import based coal-fired power plant at Moheskhali island in Cox’s Bazar.

“We have already prepared a draft on the joint venture power project and forwarded to the power division for approval,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) said.

He added a BPDB delegation led by its chairman ASM Alamgir Kabir has already visited Thailand and negotiated with the EGAT officials.

The EGAT officials in a visit to Bangladesh in November 2011 have shown interest to set up the coal-fired power plant by its own financing, the official said.

The EGAT has been generating around 15,000 MW of electricity in Thailand, of which 1,500 MW is generated from coal-fired power plants, the official added.

Somboon Arayaskul, president of EGAT during his visit told daily sun that Thailand generates 30,000 MW of electricity daily with energy mixing where EGAT's contribution is around 50 percent.

The EGAT has already invested around $600 million in different countries including Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam and India, he said. He said both BPDB and EGAT can work together for manpower development through sharing their experience in development, planning and operation of power plants.

"We will be able to maintain and overhaul power plants with cooperation of EGAT as it has already gathered 40 years of experience in Thailand and in some other countries," he said.

Bangladesh and Thailand may sign a MoU on human resource development and initiate power plant project, he informed.

Arayaskul said his country is also interested to initiate a joint venture coal-based power project with the BPDB.

"Your gas reserve would dry up quickly as 90 percent of the electricity generation depends here on gas. The government should move to generate electricity by coal-fired power plants," Somboon Arayaskul said. The government should think about future uses of gas here, he added.

The government, however, has a plan to establish coal-based power plan hub with capacity to generate 5,000MW of electricity at Moheskhali in Cox’s Bazar.

The government has already offered India, Saudi Arab and Malaysia to install series of coal-fired power plants depending on import-based coal.

[ Business ] 2012-07-02