Deal signed with China

The government yesterday signed a deal with China to set up a 1,320-megawatt coal-based power plant in Moheshkhali upazila of Cox's Bazar.
Abduhu Ruhullah, chairman of Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), and Zhao Longjun, president of Huadian Hong Kong Company of China, signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) at Bidyut Bhaban in the capital.
Under the agreement, BPDB and the Chinese company will jointly build two units with a capacity of 660MW each by 2019.
China will install ultra-supercritical technology at the plant to meet environment standards, Abduhu said.  
The cost of the plant over 550 acres of land will be finalised during a feasibility study.
Bangladesh and China will finance 30 percent of the project while the remaining amount will be taken as loan from other sources.
The plant will use 11,000 tonnes of coal a day, which will come from Indonesia, South Africa, Australia and Mozambique.
It is the second deal with the Chinese government. Earlier, the state-owned North West Power Generation Company reached an agreement with China National Machinery Import Export Corporation last month for setting up a coal-fired power plant of the same capacity in Patuakhali.
The government has already taken steps to acquire 5,000 acres of land in Moheshkhali so that it can build several more plants to generate 9,000MW electricity there in total, Abduhu said. “It is a matter of comfort that the site requires almost no resettlement and rehabilitation,” he said.  Besides, the plants can be operated with minimum disturbance to the nature, environment and eco-system.
Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, power, energy and mineral resources affairs adviser to the prime minister, requested the Chinese company to complete one unit within the next three years.
The project is a high priority for the country, he said.
McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm and trusted adviser to the world's leading businesses, governments and institutions, and credit rating agency Moody's underline that a rapid enhancement of Bangladesh's power generating capacity is more than essential, said Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali.   
“We achieved 10,000MW electricity generating capacity last year. The government has unveiled its plan to generate 39,000MW power by 2030,” he added.