The Financial Express of Bangladesh reported that the Japan International Cooperation Agency will start a feasibility study to establish a coal fired power plant in Chittagong coast in July.
Officials said that recently it has sought Power Division's cooperation to get necessary permissions from different ministries and departments to carry out the study in Matarbari and Maheskhali areas.
Mr Syed Mahbubur Rahman assistant chief Power Division said that "The plant will be run by imported coal and that's why a port will be built along the Chittagong coast. The JICA team as part of the feasibility study will at first carry out a survey for port planning and designing.”
In a letter JICA's South Asia Division Director Ichiguchi Tomohide especially sought data about the sea conditions and meteorological phenomena in both rainy and dry seasons to smoothly carry out the study. Following the request the Power Division has sought comments or permissions from different departments and ministries including environment and forest and defence.
According to the letter, the JICA team at present will carry out survey on the depth of the sea, soil survey, littoral sand drift survey, hydrological regime survey and wave survey.
Officials said that the government has plans to set up seven coal-based power plants to generate 4,000 MW power by 2014. Of them, six will be owned by private entrepreneurs while the government will set up one plant. Imported coal will fuel these plants if local coal can't be extracted.
Currently the country has only one coal-fired power plant of 250 MW capacity which is fuelled by extracted coal from Barapukuria coalmine. The government has planned to set up another plant with 250mw electricity generation capacity from the same coalmine.
In Chittagong, two more coal based power plants 1,300 MW one at Anwara and a 150mw one at Jaldi will also be installed. Three other plants a 300 MW one at Munshiganj, a 150 MW one at Khulna and a 1,300 MW one at Bagerhat's Mongla have also been planned.
Presently 82% electricity is generated from natural gas, 5% from furnace oil, 7% from diesel and 6% from water and coal. Currently the country's power plants can generate some 5,500 MW of electricity against daily demand of over 6,500 MW.
The present government has set a target to raise power generation to 15,000 MW by 2016. Permission has been given to set up a good number of quick rental power plants rental power plants and coal fired power plants. The government claims that some 2,500 MW of power has been added to the national grid since it assumed power.
Source - The Financial Express
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