Cost of per unit electricity from Rooppur to be Tk 4.50: Yeafesh Osman

The Levelized Cost of the per kilowatt electricity of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant would be Tk4.50 for a whole operational period, which is lower than the previously hinted price.

Science and Technology Minister Architect Yeafesh Osman disclosed the cost on Saturday while talking before the media about the progress of the country's first nuclear power plant which is under construction in Pabna.

"Our analysis says that the per-unit cost would be Tk4.5," said the minister.

Earlier, Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission hinted the price of per unit or kilowatt-hour of nuclear electricity would be Tk 6 to Tk 7 per unit.

Talking about the timely implementation of the project, Yeafesh Osman said, "We are going with the pace of the timeline to complete the project. Even, during the coronavirus pandemic, the pace of the work progress has not been affected."

The nuclear power plant at Ishwardi in Pabna will have two power units, each having 1,200 megawatts of capacity, and the first unit of the plant is scheduled to come into operation by October 2024.

The power units will be equipped with both active and passive safety systems, including Molten Core Catcher. Latest 3+ generation Russian VVER 1200 reactors will be used in the first-ever nuclear power plant of Bangladesh.

Atomenergomash is the single-source manufacturer for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant reactor hall and a supplier for most of the turbine island equipment.