Bangladesh's Ultra Super Critical Coal Power Plant to Be Inaugurated Soon

Payra, the country’s biggest thermal power plant, has begun production experimentally and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is likely to officially inaugurate the power plant soon, say sources. The first time power generated by it was supplied to the national grid was at 11 am on January 13. The power transmission programme was successfully launched by supplying electricity from the Payra Thermal Power Station to the Gopalganj Station, a powerhouse built at Nishanbaria of Dhankhali union of Kalapara in Patuakhali on January 13.

 

AM Khorshedul Alam, CEO of the Bangladesh-China Power Company Limited (BCPCL), confirmed the start of production by the plant. He said the centre had successfully started generating electricity. Production will now be increased in stages.  He said that the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the plant at a time convenient to her. The Prime Minister has been informed that the plant was ready for formal commissioning. Project Director Shah Abdul Mawla said the first unit had been launched, supplying electricity to the national grid.

Currently, a small amount of electricity will be provided daily on an experimental basis. Production would be gradually increased.  There was excitement about the start of the power plant. The coal-fired power station is one of the largest in the country. In all, 1320 megawatts of electricity from the Payra Power Station will be supplied to the national grid. Earlier, the country’s biggest power plant, a gas-powered unit, had a capacity 450 MW.

Executive engineer of the Payra Thermal Power Station, Rejowan Iqbal Khan, said the high voltage line of a 136-km-long double circuit had been connected to the Patuakhali Sadar from the Payra thermal power station at the newly built 400/230 kV grid in Muksudpur upazila of Gopalganj district. Payra thermal power plant will be able to supply 660 MW of electricity to the national grid next month.

The Payra plant is the second coal-fired power plant in the country. The first one was the 250MW Barapukuria Power Station in Dinajpur, which uses local coal. The plant is part of the government’s efforts to diversify energy amid depleting gas reserves and to feed the growing economy. More coal power plants are on the way. About 60 per cent work of the 1,320MW Rampal power plant in Rampal upazila of Bagerhat has been completed and is expected to start test runs in December this year, according to officials.

These plants are at the heart of the government’s plan to produce 40,000 MW electricity by 2030 when coal would produce 35 per cent of the power, up from about 2 per cent now.  The BCPCL acting MD said, the Payra plant was built by a 50:50 joint venture between state-run North-West Power Generation Company Bangladesh and China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation.

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