Matarbari 1200-MW power plant braves pandemic

The Coal-Fired Power Plant project in Matarbari is progressing fast despite the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said.

The 1200-megawatt ultra super critical plant is one of the country’s top priority mega projects.

“Most of the mega projects have been delayed due to the second wave of COVID-19. But we didn’t stop for a single day. We are following all health guidelines and there is PCR test facility in the project site,” Md, Monowar Hossain Majumder, superintendent engineer (operation) of the Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Ltd, said during a visit to the site on Monday.

He said a total of 37 projects in Moheshkhali and Matarbari were being implemented depending on the infrastructure facilities of the Matarbari coal-fired power project.

He added the project have already had huge impacts on the socio-economic development of the area.

The government has undertaken the project at a cost of Tk 35,984.45 crore to supply quality and reliable power at affordable prices.

Of the total project cost, the government will provide Tk4,926.65 crore while TK28,939.04 crore will come from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) support and Tk 2,118.77 crore will be provided by the state-owned Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Ltd.

Under the project, the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor will construct a channel of 14.3 kilometer-long, 250 meter-wide and 18.5 meter-depth and implement other related work.

It will also construct a jetty for uploading coal and oil.

“So far, 50 percent of the coal jetty has been implemented ahead of the schedule. Implementation of most of the components has also been completed ahead the scheduled time,” said Mujumdar.

For the construction of 1200 MW coal-fired power plant, the ultra-super critical technology with coal yard and ash etc. is being used.

The project launched its physical work in 2017 and so far made more than 50 percent of progress.

A total of 7,086 workers are now working relentlessly to implement the project by January 2024, the officials said.