Italian firm faceh funding constraints
An Italian firm, facing funding constraints, failed to start setting up two waste-based power plants in the city outskirts, city corporation officials said Under a deal the government signed with the company in February the Italian firm was required to start setting up the plants, one each at Amin Bazaar and Matuail in 130 days, said officials of Dhaka South City Corporation and Dhaka North City Corporation.
Using solid waste as fuel the two plants were planned to generate 100MW of electricity, DSCC chief waste management officer Sheikh Mohammad Javed Iqbal told New Age.
The deal required Management Environment Finance SRL Ltd, the Italian company, to supply power to the national grid in 36 months from its signing, he said.
The deal stipulates that Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited, Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited and Rural Electrification Board would buy power from MEFSRL for Tk 8.75 per unit for 20 years, he said.
Javed Iqbal said that the power plants were scheduled to be set up on land already provided by the two city corporations.
Supply waste was also the responsibility of the two city corporations, he said.
The Matuail dumping ground is ready, said Javed Iqbal.
DNCC superintending engineer at waste management department Md Mezbahul Karim said that the land at Amin Bazaar dumping ground was also ready for setting up the plant.
He said that the deal required the Italian company to invest $ 300 million to set up the two power plants, each with a capacity to generate 50MW of electricity.
‘The company officials did nothing except for visiting the project sites and conducting the surveys’, Karim added.
Management Environment Finance SRL Limited executive director Mir Hossain Ekram told New Age that they had sent a letter to the Local Government Division
seeking extension of time until February to start the work.
He said that by January, they would be able to start the work.
Waste based power plants, better known as waste-to-energy, is the process of generating electricity from the incineration of waste.
-With New Age input
