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Matarbari Power Plant
Matarbari coal-fired power plant is being developed in Moheshkhali of Cox’s Bazar district of
Bangladesh. The 1.2 GW project is being developed by Coal Power Generation Company
Bangladesh Limited (CPGCBL), a state-owned enterprise of Bangladesh, with an investment of
$4.5 billion approximately.
The Matarbari power plant was proposed in September 2011 and gained approval in October
2013. Groundbreaking ceremony of the project was held in January 2018. The project is
scheduled for completion by 2023 and is being developed on a 1500 acre site. It will contain two
thermal units based on coal-fired technology, with an installed capacity of 600 MW each.
Matarbari is expected to account for about 10% of the power generating capacity of Bangladesh.
The expected requirement of 3.73 million ton per year is to be met by coal imported from
Australia, Indonesia and South Africa. A coal unloading system equipped with rail-mounted
continuous bucket type unloaders will transport the imported coal to the plant.
Infrastructure
A new deep seaport facility named Matarbari port will be developed in order to bring in the coal
required for the power plant. The port will have a 760-meter long container and a multipurpose
terminal. The terminal will include a fuel berth, fuel transportation facility and two coal-handling
jetties. A new 400 kV transmission line will transmit the electricity generated by the plant to the
national grid.
Financing
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) provided a loan of $90 million for the project in
June 2014. In June 2018, JICA provided another $20 million for the development of the
Matarbari port.
Other Involved Parties
JICA Study Team and Tokyo Electric Power Services prepared the environmental impact study
for the project. Sumitomo, Toshiba and IHI were responsible for the engineering, procurement
and construction contract.
Sumitomo subcontracted port construction and providing plant equipment to Toshiba Plant
Systems and Services and Penta-Ocean Construction. Toshiba will supply steam turbines and
generators and IHI will provide boilers. Posco E&C were awarded the civil engineering contract
worth $840 million while the Roads and Highways Department (RHD), Bangladesh contracted
DevCon for detailed design and supervision of access road construction for the power plant.
Rampal Coal Power Project

The Rampal Power Station is a 1320-megawatt coal-fired power station that is under
construction in Rampal Upazilas of Bagerhat District in Khulna, Bangladesh. The power station
is being constructed over 1834 acres of land and is 14 kilometers to the north of the Sundarbans.
It will be the largest power plant in Bangladesh.
Controversy
Several people have voiced concerns about the impact that the power plant will have on the
environment. A UNESCO report in 2016 called the environmental impact assessment of the
project and called for shelving the project. On August 2013, the project was approved for
construction by Department of Energy of Bangladesh, although they changed their stance and set
50 preconditions for the project. However, the location of the plant only 14 kilometers away
from the Sundarbans violates one such precondition stating that such a project should be outside
a 25-kilometer radius of ecologically sensitive areas. Environmental activists have alleged that
the location for construction of the project is in violation of the Ramsar Convention, to which
Bangladesh is a signatory. The Ramsar Convention is the only global environmental treaty that is
concerned with the preservation of wetlands.
Despite the protests and allegations, the Bangladesh government claims that the power plant will
not be damaging to the nearby mangrove forest, stating that the plant will keep emissions of
greenhouse gases at a minimum level. The government also stated that they will import high-
quality coal, use 275-meter high chimneys and implement state-of-the-art technology to ensure
that the impact on the Sundarbans is negligible.
Financing
A Memoriam of Understanding was signed between Bangladesh Power Development Board
(BPDP) and India’s National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) in 2010, agreeing to
implement the project by 2016. On January 29, 2012, BPDP signed the agreement with NTPC to
build the plant. A joint venture company was formed known as Bangladesh India Friendship
Power Company (BIFPC), with BPDP and NTPC agreeing to implement the project on a 50:50
equity basis.
The project is to be financed mainly by loans, funding up to 70% of the $1.5 billion project. The
remaining 30% is to be funded by India and Bangladesh, each country providing 15%. It is
reported that the BIFPC will enjoy a 15-year tax holiday.
French banks Credit Agricole, BNP Paribas and Societe Generale refused to fund the project due
to continued public opposition against the environmental impact of the project. In 2014, the
council on ethics of Norway recommended that the country’s government pension fund exclude
the Rampal power plant project from its investments.
The project finally gained funding in April 2017, when Ex-Im Bank of India provided a $1.6
billion loan for the development of the power plant.
References
1. https://www.nsenergybusiness.com/projects/matarbari-coal-fired-power-plant/
2. https://www.offshore-technology.com/projects/moheshkhali-floating-lng-terminal/
3. https://www.gem.wiki/Rampal_power_station

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Matarbari Power Plant

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Rampal Coal Power Project

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