55 MW wind power plant gets cabinet body’s approval

The Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase on Wednesday approved the proposal of a Chinese-Bangladeshi consortium to set up a 55 MW wind power plant on build-own-operate basis at Mongla in Bagerhat.

As per the proposal, the Consortium of Envision Energy, (Jiangsu) Co Ltd, China, SQ Trading and Engineering, Bangladesh and Envision Renewable Energy Limited, Hong Kong will set up the plant under a 20- year contract with Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB).

State-owned BPDB will purchase the electricity from the plant at a levelised tariff of US$ 13.20 Cents, equivalent to Tk 10.56 per kilowatt hour (each unit) over the period of 20 years.

The government will pay a total of Tk 2035.12 crore for the entire contract period against its purchase of electricity from the maiden private wind power project, said Saleh Ahmed, additional secretary of the Cabinet Division, while briefing reporters on the cabinet body meeting.      

The Chinese-Bangladeshi consortium was the lone bidder to participate in the tender process invited for the project, said a BPDB official.

According to the Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (Sreda), only three small wind energy plants, having a total capacity of 2.9 MW, have been installed by the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) so far against its target of setting up wind power projects having a total capacity of 1152 MW by 2020.

Earlier, BPDB signed a contract in March, 2015 to award a 60 MW wind power project to US-DK Green Energy (BD), a joint venture between Taylor Engineering Group of USA, ph-consulting group of Denmark and Multiplex Green Energy of Bangladesh, to set up the plant at Kurushkul, southeast of Moheshkhali river in Cox’s Bazar.

But the sponsor failed to implement the project in the last 5 years.  

Mongla 55 MW wind power project is one of the three similar projects undertaken by the BPDB  in recent years. The other two projects were planned for Chandpur and Inani beach in Cox’s Bazar. 

But its move failed to attract the participation of wide-range bidders.