Kohelia 700 MW (CPGCBL-Sembcorp) Coal Power Plant

The Kohelia Coal Power Plant, also known as Bangladesh-Singapore Ultra-supercritical Coal Based Power Plant is situated on the northern part of Matarbari Island in Maheshkhali Upazila under Cox's Bazaer District of Chittagong Division. It is jointly sponsored by Bangladeshi state-owned company Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Limited (CPGCBL) and Singapore based Sembcorp Utilities Private Limited (SUPL).

Total 1,350 acres of land had been taken in 2014-2015 from the local farmers, shrimp cultivators and salt collectors to construct 2 coal power plants with installed capacity of 1,400 MW (in 2 phases) and 2 LNG based power plants with installed capacity of 1,200 MW [1]. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed with Kohelia Singapore Holding Private Limited (KSHPL), which is a subsidiary of SUPL, and Fichtner GmbH & Company KG (Germany) has been appointed the Owner's Engineer for the Project [1, 2]. But no Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) with KSHPL has been signed till now [1].

It seems that, CPGCBL is hopeful about the project as per their latest Annual Report. On the other hand SUPL haven't mentioned anything about the proposed coal power plant in their latest annual report, but land filling activities in the project site have been seen in even last February 2021. According to the PSMP 2018, the Commercial Operation Date (COD) of the power plant is December 2023 [4]. Meeting the target is simply next to impossible now. 

Meanwhile, the Government has taken a decision to scrap all coal power plants except those which are under construction now and progressing fast. So, there is a possibility of cancelling Kohelia Coal Power Plant along with others.

Basic Information

  • Full Name: Bangladesh-Singapore 700 MW USC Coal Based Power Plant (Phase 1&2) 
  • Alternative Names: Kohelia (CPGCBL-Sembcorp) Coal Power Plant, CPGCBL-Sembcorp Coal Power Plant, Matarbari Kohelia Coal Power Plant 
  • Current Status: Preparation 
  • Type of Entity: Independent Power Producer (IPP) 
  • Ownership: Public-Private Partnership (PPP) 
  • ES Category: A [according to the World Bank, IFC and ADB Safeguard Policies]
  • ECR Category: Red [according to the Environmental Conservation Rules of Bangladesh]
  • Number of Units: 2 
  • Installed Capacity: 1,400 MW (700 MW X 2 Units) [4] 
  • Derated Capacity: 1,288 MW [4] 
  • Base Tariff (kWh): Undisclosed 

Location 

  • Address: Matarbari Island, Upazila: Maheshkhali, District: Cox’s Bazar, Division: Chittagong 
  • Geographic Position: On seashore of the bay of Bengal and bank of Kohelia River; 33.5 km northwest from Cox's Bazar city, 12.3 km northwest from Maheshkhali Upazila town; 72.7 km from Chittagong (Chattogram) city and 279 km southeast from Dhaka city. 
  • Coordinates: 21.7513, 91.8963 

Land & Communities 

  • Land Size: 1350 Acres [1] 
  • Land Owners: Local farmer, fishermen, shrimp cultivators and salt producers
  • Affected Communities: farmer, fishermen, sharecropper, salt producer, shrimp cultivators 
  • Directly Affected: 865 families 
  • Indirectly Affected: 3,400 families 

Fuel & Technology

  • Primary Fuel: Coal (Imported)
  • Support Fuel: Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO)
  • Fuel Source: Undisclosed 
  • Fuel Requirement (Annual): 2.8 million tonnes [estimated by BWGED Team]
  • Fuel Requirement (Lifetime): 70 million tonnes [25 years] 
  • Technology: Ultra Super Critical (USC) 

Projected Emissions

  • GHG Emission (Annual): Undisclosed
  • GHG Emission (Lifetime): Undisclosed 

Executing Agencies 

  • Sponsor: Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Limited (CPGCBL): 50% [2] 
  •         Parent: Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB)
  • Sponsor: Kohelia Singapore Holding Private Limited (KPHSL): 50% [2]
  •         Parent: Sembcorp Utilities Private Limited (SUPL), Singapore 
  • Energy Buyer: Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) 

Financing (USD) 

  • Total Budget: Undisclosed 
  • Sponsors' Investment: Undisclosed 
  • Domestic Loan: Undisclosed 
  • External Loan: Undisclosed 
  • GOB Contribution: 102.00 million [3]

Expenditure (USD)

  • Land Acquisition: 102.00 million

Contractors 

  • EPC Contractor: Not appointed 
  • Civil Engineering Contractor: Not appointed 
  • Land Development: Western Engineering Private Limited (WEPL), Bangladesh [5] 
  • Jetty Construction: Not appointed 
  • Roadway Construction: Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), Bangladesh 
  • Evacuation/Transmission: Not appointed 

Suppliers 

  • Boiler Supplier: Not appointed 
  • Equipment Supplier: Not appointed  
  • Fuel Supplier: Not appointed 
  • Generator Suppler: Not appointed 
  • Labour Supplier: Not appointed 
  • Generator Suppler: Not appointed 
  • Steam Turbine Supplier: Not appointed 

Consultants 

  • Feasibility Study: Fichtner GmbH & Company KG, Germany [1] 
  • EIA Consultant: Architecture Engineering Construction Operations and Management (AECOM), India [6] 
  • EIA Subcontractor: Environmental Quality and Management System (EQMS), Bangladesh [6] 
  • Engineering Consultant: SMEC Holdings Limited, Australia [7]
  • Owner's Engineer: Fichtner GmbH & Company KG [1] 
  • Design & Supervision: Undisclosed 
  • Financial Adviser: Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), Japan 
  • Technical Consultant: Murshed Associates Limited (MAL), Banlgadesh [8] 
  • Insurer: Undisclosed 

Timeline 

  • CPGCBL-SUPL MOU Signed: 9 December 2015 [2] 
  • Owner's Engineer Appointed: 30 May 2018 
  • EPC Contractor Appointment: February 2020 (pending) 
  • PPA Signed: Not applicable 
  • Construction Period: 44 months (Estimated from other PPAs) 
  • COD (Expected): 31 December 2023 (Phase-1), 31 December 2032 (Phase-2) [4] 
  • COD (Actual): Not applicable
  • Lifetime: 25 years (calculated from other PPAs) 
  • Phase Out (Estimated): 31 December 2048 (Phase-1), 31 December 2057 (Phase-2) 
  • Phase Out (Actual): Not applicable

Notes

  • Initially the project was planned to be installed in Anwara Upazila, Chittagong [9] 

Information Source  

  1. CPGCBL (2020). Annual Report 2019-2020 
  2. Rasel, Aminur Rahman (2017). "Bids submitted for 700MW Kohelia coal plant". The Dhaka Tribune, Dhaka: 9 February 2017. Archived: https://energy-archive.blogspot.com/2020/12/bids-submitted-for-700mw-kohelia-coal.html
  3. Annual Development Program (ADP), Bangladesh National Budget 2020-2021, Ministry of Finance, Government of Bangladesh 
  4. Power Division (2018). Revisiting PSMP 2016. Power Division, Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MOPEMR), Dhaka: November 2018. Attachment-2. Retrieved from https://powerdivision.portal.gov.bd/sites/default/files/files/powerdivision.portal.gov.bd/page/4f81bf4d_1180_4c53_b27c_8fa0eb11e2c1/Revisiting%20PSMP2016%20%28full%20report%29_signed.pdf 
  5. http://www.westernengineeringbd.com/our-ongoing-projects/ 
  6. EQMS (undated). Ongoing Project. EQMS Consulting Limited (EQMS), Dhaka: Undated. Retrieved from https://eqms.com.bd/images/pdf/Ongoing-Project.pdf
  7. https://www.marketreportsonline.com/742676.html
  8. http://www.mal.com.bd/about.php
  9. Rasel, Aminur Rahman (2015). "Govt’s coal power miracle on the rocks". The Dhaka Tribune, 15 October 2015. Archived: https://energy-archive.blogspot.com/2020/12/govts-coal-power-miracle-on-rocks.html