Gazaria power station (RPCL)

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The Gazaria power station (RPCL) is a proposed 350 megawatt (MW) coal-fired in Munshiganj District, Dhaka Division, Bangladesh.

Location

The undated satellite photo below shows the proposed location for the project in Gazaria Upazila, in Munshganj District of Dhaka Division.

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Background

Project sponsor Rural Power Company Limited (RPCL) was the first Independent Power Producer in Bangladesh, and currently operates four non-coal power plants. The plan for a plant in Gazaria is connected with a government plan to establish an industrial zone in the district. The project sponsors have taken steps toward acquiring the 350 acres of land needed for the plant. According to an RPCL official, the cost of the plant would be US$550 million.

The siting of the plant has been controversial, since a draft bill being readied by the government would prohibit use of crop land for industrial purposes. However, according to an RPCL official, the plant would be sited on land abutting a river that is primarily barren.

In August 2016 the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) gave approval for the Electricity Generation Company of Bangladesh to begin land acquisition, rehabilitation and an environmental impact assessment for establishing a 300 to 400 MW supercritical coal plant in Gazaria and Sadar upazila of Munshiganj district, with an outlay of Taka 987.80 crore. It is planned for operation in 2023.

In October 2016 it was reported Bangladesh Rural Power Company signed an agreement worth US$433 million with PowerChina and Hubei Hongyuan Power Engineering Co to set up the 350MW coal-fired power plant in Munshiganj.

According to RPCL, the plant is planned for 2019. However, as of March 2018 RPCL was still working on the acquisition of land in Gazaria for the project.

According to a news report in February 2019, RPCL had "backtracked from its decision" to build a coal plant in Gazaria upazila, because transporting coal in barges on the Meghna River "is not found feasible."

Financing

According to an RPCL official, the cost of the plant would be US$550 million. In 2015 it was reported that finance may come either from China or from an unspecified Export Credit Agency.

In August 2017 Bangladesh government officials said they were pitching for the newly-formed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to provide US$1 billion for power projects including the proposed 350 MW Gazaria coal plant. While senior executives with the China-backed AIIB have stated it wants to be “lean, clean and green”, the bank’s power sector lending policy includes loopholes which could be exploited to justify funding coal plants.

Project Details

• Sponsor: Rural Power Company Limited (RPCL)
• Parent company: Rural Power Company Limited (RPCL), PowerChina, Hubei Hongyuan Power Engineering Co
• Location: Gazaria Upazila, Munshganj District, Dhaka Division, Bangladesh
• Coordinates: 23.524007, 90.627202 (exact)
• Status: Cancelled
• Gross Capacity: 350 MW
• Type: Supercritical
• Projected in service: 2023
• Coal Type:
• Coal Source:
• Source of financing: Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) (potentially)

Articles and resources

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