Construction of Matarbari coal power plant, port starts Sunday

The construction of the Matarbari power plant and deep-sea port will begin on Sunday.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the Matarbari 1,200MW coal-based power plant’ via video conference from the Ganabhaban.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency, or JICA, is financing the project to construct Bangladesh’s largest power plant at Matarbari, which is to run on coal and have the capacity to generate 1,200MW of electricity.

According to the government’s power master plan, the Matarbari area is to become a power hub for the country. In addition to the power plant, the project is also constructing a port in the area, which the government plans to convert to a deep-sea port.

The government hopes the project will help develop the region into a major economic centre.

A total of 1,414 acres of land have been allocated in Moheshkhali’s Matarbari and Dhalghata Unions for the project. Construction is currently 17 percent complete.

Md Abul Quasem, managing director of state-run Coal Power Generation Company, said the project would include a 14.7km long, 250m wide and 18.5m deep-sea channel.

A coal jetty, a storage yard and an ash pond will be constructed for the power plant, he added.

“Land is also being allocated for a land-based LNG terminal and a coal terminal,” State Minister for Power Nasrul Hamid said. “Coal can be distributed quickly to all the coal-based power plants across the country from this terminal.”

“The project will need between 8,000 and 10,000 tonnes of coal a day. Eventually we will import even more coal to provide supply to other power plants.”

The project area is some 40 nautical miles from the port at Chittagong.

The power project hopes to make a significant contribution to Bangladesh’s goal of 40,000MW power production by 2040.

Approximately 15,000MW of this power is to be generated in the Moheshkhali area.

The LNG terminal for the area will begin construction in April, 2018, Hamid said.