Dhaka, August 28, 2017 (EP) - Indian conglomerate Shapoorji Pallonji Group has signed an agreement with Bangladesh Power Development Board to supply electricity for 22 years.
Its subsidiary, Nutan Bidyut (Bangladesh) Ltd, will supply electricity from its 220MW dual-fuel power plant to be set up at Bhola by December 2019, according to a handout provided at the contract signing ceremony in Dhaka today.
As per the power sales contract, the electricity will cost 3.9830 US cents or approximately Tk 3.19 per unit or kilowatt-hour when it would run on natural gas and 16.9621 US cents or Tk 13.57 per unit when it would run on diesel.
The power plant will run at 220MW capacity if gas supply is available and at 212MW capacity if it runs on diesel in absence of gas supplies.
Addressing the function, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said Shapoorji became the first Indian company to come up with 100 per cent investment in a power project.
He said the government would consider positively about new projects of Shapoorji if it could install the power plant ahead of the schedule.
In 2014, Shapoorji initially planned to relocate its power plant from Uttarakhand province of India to Bhola as the company was denied supply of natural gas by Indian authorities to the plant after its installation in 2013, said officials.
Following a visit to the power plant in Uttarakhand in 2015, a technical team of the power board reported that the engineering design and specifications of the plant was not suitable for Bangladesh’s standards at which gas is supplied to the plant and electricity is supplied to the power grid, they said.
The junior minister said that many European companies were now showing their interests to invest in the power sector of the country.
Urging the Indian company to complete its project before the next general election, he said the government has a plan to increase power generation by 2000 MW each year.
“Still we have huge shortage. So, there is huge opportunity to invest in Bangladesh power sector. We have successfully created an enabling environment for investment," he said.
Power Secretary Dr. Ahmad Kaikaus, PDB Chairman Khaled Mahmood, Petrobangla Chairman Abul Mansur Mohammad Faizullah and Shapoorji Pallonji Managing Director Mukindan Sri Nibashan also addressed the function.
