Khulna power station (Orion)

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The Khulna power station (Orion) is a proposed 660-megawatt (MW) coal-fired in Khulna division, Bangladesh.

Location

The map below shows the plant site location of Mongla Upazila, Bagerhat district, Khulna division, Bangladesh.

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Background

In June 2012 the Bangladesh Power Development Board signed three agreements with Orion Power to set up three private coal-fired power plants in Khulna, Chittagong and Mawa, Bangladesh totaling 1,200 megawatt capacity. It was reported the Chittagong power station (Orion) would have a generating capacity of 282.67 MW.

In April 2013 it was reported that the 283 MW Chittagong power station (Orion) would be merged with the Khulna power station into a single 565 MW plant at Khulna.

In May 2014, it was reported that Orion had signed agreements with Alstom and Doosan worth US$189 million to to prepare primary designs for turbine equipment for the plant. The plant would use coal from Indonesia.

According to a progress report on the Orion Group website (accessed Sep 2015), contracts for boiler, turbine, and generator were signed with Alstom on 27 January 2014. SEPCO III was finalized as EPC contractor, with signing expected in December 2014. An EIA report had been submitted to the Department of Environment, with two meetings held with DOE in August and September 2014, and a final edited Environmental and Social Impact Assessment filed on 29 October 2014. The thermal plume data was completed in February 2014, and plume modelling was completed by AECOM in Singapore and submitted to DOE. Primary data for river modelling was completed by IWM on 4 February 2014. River modeling was in progress at Bangladesh University of Engineering Technology. A geotechnical survey was completed, with 23 boreholes tested.

According to the company website, the plant is "advanced supercritical" rather than supercritical, with boiler parameters of 595 degrees C and 250 bar. The company expects efficiency of 42%.

In August 2016 The Daily Star reported that the project was stalled. Orion had applied for environmental clearance for the Khulna power plant in July 2013, but the EIA has still not been cleared.

As of October 2016, despite photos on the Orion website showing some preliminary site work, there have been no news reports since 2014 of equipment purchases or construction agreements, and there have been no reports that financial closure has been achieved. Additionally, in response to widespread public opposition and global pressure, officials within the power ministry began making statements that they would pursue natural gas and renewables over coal. Plans for the plant appear to be cancelled.

In March 2018 the Bangladesh Post described the project as suspended.

The plant is not listed in the Bangladesh 2016 Master Plan "Revisited", released in November 2018. It appears to be cancelled.

Public opposition

Like the Rampal power station, the Khulna coal proposal by Orion has been opposed for being situated near the Sundarbans mangrove forest, a UNESCO world heritage site. In 2015, UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee requested an assessment of activities related to river dredging to enable construction of the power plants “to ensure activities are not conducted before the revised EIA is submitted to the World Heritage Centre.” Civil society organizations in Bangladesh and India called on UNESCO to add the Sundarbans World Heritage sites in both countries to the List of World Heritage in Danger based on threats from the Rampal and Orion Khulna coal-fired power plants.

Project Details

• Sponsor: Orion Power Khulna
• Parent company: Orion Group
• Location: Burirdanga, Mongla upazila, Bagerhat district, Khulna division, Bangladesh
• Coordinates: 22.5712191, 89.5662117 (exact)
• Status: Cancelled
• Gross Capacity: 680 MW
• Type: Supercritical
• Projected in service:
• Coal Type:
• Coal Source: Indonesia
• Source of financing:

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