Matarbari coal-fired power plant to partially go into operation next yr

The two units of the ultra supercritical coal-fired thermal power plant at Matarbari in Moheshkhali are expected to go into operation by next year.

Financed by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the units of the plant have the capacity to generate 1,200 MW of electricity. Sources said around 70 per cent construction work of the units has so far been completed.

The state-owned Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Limited is implementing the project worth Tk 51,854.88 crore.

Project Director of the coal-fired power plant Engineer Abul Kalam Azad said, "The construction work of the power plant is going on in full swing now.

Two units of the plant at Moheshkhali are likely to go into operation by next year (2024)."

Sources said the Matarbari power station is part of a large multi-plant complex being organised by the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB).

In August 2013, the BPDB announced that it intended to develop a multi-plant power complex in Cox's Bazar that would include both coal-fired plants and combined cycle gas-fired plants.

The announcement stated that the BPDB intended to build 6,000 MW Ultra Supercritical Coal Based Thermal Power Plant and 3,000 MW LNG-Based Combined Cycle Power Plant in different phases at Maheshkhali upazila in Cox's Bazar.

The Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) cleared the first revision of the Matarbari Ultra Supercritical Coal Fired Power Project, raising its cost by Tk 15,870 crore and extending the deadline up to December 2026 from June 2023. The approval came from the weekly ECNEC meeting held virtually with ECNEC Chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair on November 23, 2021.

The cost of the Matarbari project now stands at Tk 51,854.88 crore against the original cost of Tk 35,984.46 crore. At least 98 per cent of the additional cost of Tk 15,870.42 crore would be utilised for ensuring deep seaport facilities.

The Matarbari power plant was proposed in September 2011 and granted environmental approval in October 2013. Ground-breaking ceremony for the project took place in January 2018.

The thermal power plant is being constructed on 1,500 acres of land. It consists of two thermal units based on ultra-supercritical coal-fired technology, with an installed capacity of 600MW each.

A consortium of Sumitomo, Toshiba and IHI was awarded the engineering, procurement and construction contract for the project, in August 2017.

Sumitomo subcontracted Toshiba Plant Systems and Services for constructing the port and providing other plant equipment and associated civil work.

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