Tk 10000 cr mega power fund likely

GAZIPUR, Jul 2: Prime Minister”s Adviser Dr Taufiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury Birbikram Thursday said the government is considering mobilising a mega-fund of Tk 10,000 crore to finance the power sector to resolve the nagging electricity crisis, reports UNB.
“We hope if Tk 2,000 crore comes from government”s public-private partnership (PPP) allocation, then the rest Tk 8,000 crore will come from the private sector,” he said while inaugurating Summit Group”s 33-MW power plant at Maona in Gazipur.
He, however, said this is in the planning stage and the government is examining different options.
Summit Uttaranchal Power Company Ltd, a sister concern of the Summit Group, set up the 33-megawatt rental power plant at a cost of Tk 144 crore under a 15-year power-purchase agreement (PPA) with the Rural Electrification Board (REB). The Summit will sell electricity to REB at an average tariff rate of Tk 2.40 per kilowatt hour (per unit) at the 33-kV grid level to serve 112,000 consumers, of which 3149 are industries.
The plant has 4 Wartsila gas-turbine engines, which was installed on the premises of 2.6 acres of land leased by the REB.
Summit Group Chairman Mohammad Aziz Khan claimed that the plant will consume 8 million cubic feet of gas per day (MMCFD) which is “very efficient rate of gas consumption”.
Summit Group obtained the contract of the project during the caretaker government”s rule to implement it on build-own-operate (BOO) basis. It signed the contract in October 2007 and commissioned the plant in May 2009. So far, Summit has obtained 7 power-plant projects across the country since 1998 with a total generation capacity of 215 megawatts.
Inaugurating the project, Dr. Elahi said that the government has plan to generate 5000 MW new electricity in coming years–3000 MW will be in public and the rest 2000 MW in private sector.
He admitted that gas shortage has been a major problem in generating electricity. That”s why now the government is looking for liquid fuel-based power plants.
“The import duty on furnace oil has been withdrawn in the budget targeting the liquid fuel-based power plants,” he told the inaugural function.
He alleged that the present twin-crises of power and gas have been a result of the previous BNP government”s negligence towards the sector. The function was also addressed, among others, by local Awami League lawmaker Advocate Rahmat Ali, REB Chairman Bhuiyan Shafiqul Islam and financial institute IIDLC managing director Asaduzzaman Khan.

Courtesy of The News Today