GOB is to cancel 6 more coal power plants

Friday, 29 October 2021 | Hasan Mehedi

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View of Maheshkhali Islands. Photo credit: Tanweer Morshed, Wikipedia

The Government of Bangladesh (GOB) is to declare the cancellation of 6 more coal-fired power plants which were planned to be developed on the Maheshkhali Islands. The total capacity of these planned power plants is 7920 MW. 

The enlisted power plants to be cancelled are:

1. Maheshkhali 1320 MW (BPDB-CHDHK) Coal Power Plant (Phase-I)
2. Maheshkhali 1320 MW (BPDB-CHDHK) Coal Power Plant (Phase-II)
3. Maheshkhali 1320 MW (BPDB-TNB) Coal Power Plant
4. Maheshkhali 1320 MW (BPDB-KEPCO) Coal Power Plant
5. Maheshkhali 1320 MW (BPDB-SEPCO) Coal Power Plant; and
6. Maheshkhali 1320 MW (BR PowerGen) Coal Power Plant

Earlier in June 2021, the Government cancelled 10 approved coal power plants in different zones of Bangladesh. Among those, two power plants with a capacity of 2640 MW were based on the Maheshkhali Islands. The GOB had a plan to develop 10 coal power plants with a capacity of 12960 MW on the island. 

Among those, Matarbari 1200 MW Phase-I financed the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and sponsored by the Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Limited (CPGCBL) is under construction now and a feasibility study of Matarbari 1200 MW Phase-II is going on. Two power plants - Maheshkhali Coal Power Plant (Phase-I) and Maheshkhali Phase-II were cancelled in June 2021. 

These power plants are going to be cancelled as no progress has been seen on the ground. The GOB is planning to convert these power plants from coal to LNG and renewable energy. 

The Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) has already acquired 5518 acres and is in the process of acquiring 96 acres of land on the Maheshkhali Islands to develop coal and LNG-fired power plants of which 3000 MW would be generated from Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). 

Saiful Islam Azad, Secretary of BPDB wrote a letter to the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MOPEMR) mentioning that two ultra-super critical (USC) power plants with a capacity of 2640 MW were planned to be developed by Bay of Bengal Power Company Limited, which is a Joint Venture Company (JVC) with equal share of BPDB and China Huadian Hong Kong Company Limited (CHDHK).

The BPDB had signed Memorandum of Understandings (MOU) with four foreign companies to build four coal power plants in Maheshkhali with a capacity of 5280 MW. 

The Coal Power Plants under JVCs are: Maheshkhali 1320 MW coal power plant under JVC of BPDB and Malaysia based Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), Maheshkhali 1320 MW under JVC of BPDB and Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) and Maheshkhali 1320 MW coal power plant under JVC of BPDB and SEPCO Electric Power Construction Corporation (SEPCO).

In addition to the JVCs, BR PowerGen Limited (a subsidiary of BPDB and Rural Power Company Limited) proposed to develop a coal power plant on the Maheshkhali Islands with a capacity of 1320 MW. There is no progress observed after signing the MOUs. 

Additionally, BPDB agreed in principle to provide 30 acres of land on lease for building a 726 MW LNG based combined cycle power plant on Maheshkhali Island, as per a proposal of Orion Power Dhaka Limited, a subsidiary of Orion Group. It is to mention that Orion Group is the third largest Independent Power Producer (IPP) in Bangladesh.

The power projects cancelled in June are:

1. Patuakhali 1320 MW coal power plant of Ashuganj Power Company Limited (APSCL)
2. North Bengal 1200 MW coal power plant of APSCL
3. Mawa 522 MW coal power plant of Orion Group
4. Dhaka 282 MW coal power plant of Orion Group
5. Chattogram (Chittagong) 282 MW coal power plant of Orion Group
6. Khulna 565 MW coal power plant of Orion Group
7. Maheshkhali 1320 MW coal power plant (Phase-I) of BPDB
8. Maheshkhali 1320 MW coal power plant (Phase-II) of BPDB
9. Bangladesh-Singapore 700 MW coal power plant of CPGCBL and Sembcorp Utilities Private Limited (SUPL) and
10. CPGCBL-Sumitomo 1200 MW coal power plant of CPGCBL and Sumitomo Corporation. 

A senior official in BPDB said that the cancellation will not cause any problem in electricity supply. Gas, LNG and renewable energy will take the place of the coal power plants. Besides, the Government will focus on increasing locality-based power generation capacity.

AIIB investment skewed towards fossil fuel despite green promises

13 Oct 2021, Dhaka 

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The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) invested more than half a billion US dollar in the Bangladeshi energy sector over the last five years. However, they haven’t invested a single penny on green and clean energy in this country, which is outright opposite of their commitment to environment and social standard. 

A recently released report, “Financing Fossil Fuels Failing Our Future” reveals AIIB’s continuous, controversial investment in fossil fuel in Bangladesh. It reveals that this Beijing- headquartered multilateral development bank has invested over 600 million US dollars in the Bangladeshi energy sector with a staggering y-o-y growth of 23%, none of which contributed to greening Bangladesh’s economy. 

Bangladeshi climate groups Bangladesh Working Group on External Debt (BWGED) and Coastal Livelihood and Environmental Action Network (CLEAN), Manilla-based NGO Forum on ADB, Amsterdam-based Recourse and Berlin-based Urgewald jointly published this report at a virtual launching event on Wednesday. 

“AIIB shareholders like the UK are pledging to stop funding fossil fuels but keep backing fossil fuel in climate vulnerable Bangladesh through AIIB. Not one of AIIB’s energy investments in Bangladesh supports renewables. This is unacceptable in a time of climate crisis. Time’s up AIIB – finance out of fossils now,” said Petra Kjell, Campaign Manager Recourse. 

The report reveals some disturbing facts around the combined cycle power plant in Bhola. The local communities are still awaiting compensation for land acquisition while the operating company NBBL (Nutan Bidyut Bangladesh Ltd.) showed unprecedented irresponsibility as disposal of sand and debris from the construction site blocked a local canal causing flooding of croplands. 

“This report reveals a critical reality check. Not a single investment in the energy sector in Bangladesh has been used towards meeting the 'last mile' needs of local communities through decentralized renewables; instead the AIIB's so-called 'infrastructure for tomorrow' has not only wreaked havoc on the livelihoods of local people, but also left a trail of flawed, corrupt or non-existent consultation processes”, said the report co-author Tanya Lee Roberts-Davis. 

According to the report, AIIB is a post-Paris agreement multilateral development bank committed to align its finance flow with the objectives of the Paris agreement. In May this year, AIIB amended its Environment and Social Framework (ESF) with an aim to better help its clients make progress on their contributions to the Paris Climate Agreement and achievement of the sustainable development goals. However, this policy apparently doesn't reflect on its practice. 

“AIIB is a bank with a dominant Chinese share, and Germany being the biggest non-regional shareholder. Both should combine their promises and translate them into responsibility. They should implement hard rules including strict time-bound information disclosure to stop doing harm to the people and environment”, said Dr. Nora Sausmikat, lead of the China Desk of Urgewald. 

The report also pointed out that AIIB is directly facilitating coal power dependency by connecting the coal-fired plants of the Chattogram-Cox's Bazaar area with the national grid through constructing 27-km overhead and underground transmission lines. 

“AIIB breaches its own policies for not financing coal through financing transmission lines in the Chattogram zone. It also violated its safeguard policies by not disclosing the project information and giving inadequate compensation. The bank has to compensate the people for its irregularities as there is no court to sue the bank”, said Professor Shamsul Alam, Energy Adviser of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB).