Work for a 10 thousand megawatt power plant has begun in Moheshkhali-Matarbari, while the acquisition of another power plant is underway, says a power division report.
In Matarbari, a 1200 megawatt plant is being constructed by coal power generation company and to unload coal, a seven km channel will also be constructed.
A coal terminal will also be formed by the channel and the terminal will have the infrastructure to deal with daily coal demand of a 10 thousand megawatt plant.
The coal power generation company source says that to construct the plant, 1414 acres of land were acquired; in addition to paying compensation to local people, 197 persons were given training.
The plant is being constructed with the funds from Japan International Cooperation Agency, JICA which is giving a loan of Tk 360 billion.
Japanese agencies are working as contractors for the power plant.
Construction of cement storage and transport jetty is done and currently, dredging is underway.
MD of coal power generation, Golam Kibria, says, “We are moving with our target and, hopefully, the plant will go into operation by June, 2024.”
On the other hand, in Moheshkhali, the process to acquire land for 1320 megawatt plant is done and the district administration along with the Power Development Board, PDB, is working to pay reparation to the affected.
On 6 May this year, PDB, signed an agreement with Chinese company CHDHK to form a joint capital company to construct a 1320 megawatt plant.
The ownership of the company will be in the hands of Bangladesh and China and 200 acres of land have already been allocated for this.
A leading official of PDB, said, “Since building a large plant is complex, efforts are being taken to construct it through joint initiative with a loan.”
It takes time for the two governments to reach a consensus but as part of a long term development plan, Moheshkhali will be the biggest power plant by 2030, he hoped.