PM to inaugurate Matarbari Coal-fired power plant on Nov 11

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is set to inaugurate the first unit (600MW) of Matarbari Coal-fired power plant on Saturday (November 11).

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said, the first unit (600MW) of the 1,200MW ultra-super critical technology-based one of the largest power projects, funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), was already synchronized with the national grid on July 29 this year.

Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Limited (CPGCL), a subsidiary of state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), set up the 1,200-MW power plant, having two units, on 1,414 acres of land in Matarbari and Dhalghata unions of Maheshkhali upazila of Cox’s Bazar district.

The work of the jetty for the coal discharge with the power plant is almost finished. Vessels have also started sailing at the jetty.

Some 13,104 tons of coal will be required daily to generate electricity at full scale. Coal discharge jetties and silos have been constructed for this.

Coal required for 60 days has been kept in the huge silos. Up to 80,000-tonne-capacity mother vessels can directly enter the coal jetty. And it will take one and a half to two days to unload the coal from the mother vessel.

Two separate ashponds are kept to store ash for a lifetime of 25 years of the power plant. One has an area of 90 acres, another spread over 600 acres. Coal yard has been prepared on 80 acres of land for coal storage.

A loan agreement on the project was signed between the Government of Bangladesh and Jica on June 16, 2014. The project cost was estimated at Tk51,800 crores including Tk43,921 crore project support by Jica.

According to project sources, construction of the jetty and physical infrastructure work has already been completed.

Officials of the CPGCL said that the project was implemented ensuring all necessary measures to prevent environmental pollution.

A ship carrying 64,300 tons of coal for the Matarbari plant first arrived from Indonesia on June 23 this year.