The government of Bangladesh and Asian Development Bank (ADB) Monday signed agreements for $350 million in loan and $7.5 million in grant for a project to develop two power lines in support of Bangladesh’s national target of electricity for all by 2021.
Kazi Shofiqul Azam, Secretary, Economic Relations Division (ERD), and Manmohan Parkash, Country Director, ADB, signed the agreements on behalf of Bangladesh and ADB, respectively, at a ceremony in Dhaka, says a press release.
In addition to a $350 million ADB loan, the assistances comprise a $7 million grant from the Japan Fund for the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JFJCM), which will finance new high-technology energy efficient conductors.
Another $500,000 grant from the Republic of Korea e-Asia and Knowledge Partnership Fund (EAKPF) will promote socially inclusive growth with gender equality.
“Bangladesh’s power sector has rapidly grown in recent years, but more investments are needed to meet the rising electricity demand in a fast-growing economy,” said Country Director Manmohan Parkash.
“ADB assistance aims to underpin the current impressive pace of growth and development by making power generation, transmission and distribution systems more efficient, reliable, and environmentally friendly.
“The project will promote business expansion, and create employment opportunities for local communities, including poor and socially disadvantaged people in southern and western zones of Bangladesh,” Parkash added.
The Southwest Transmission Grid Expansion Project builds on ADB’s previous work in the Bangladesh power sector, including the recently approved Rupsha 800 megawatt Combine Cycle Power Plant in Khulna, to address deficiencies in the transmission system through providing more efficient power transfer to the load centres of the southern and western zones.
The project will develop a 126 kilometer (km)-long 230 kilovolt (kV) transmission line from Barisal to Faridpur; and a 104 km-long 400 kV transmission line from Bogra to Rohanpur, along with substations, transformers, and associated extensions and connections.
The new transmission lines will introduce to Bangladesh a new type of high temperature conductor to allow more power transfer at lower energy losses.