A joint venture of Summit Group, Bangladesh’s leading power producer, and a unit of General Electric Co has started a plant initially supplying up to 240 megawatts (MW) of electricity to the country’s national grid as it seeks to plug a shortfall in electricity supply.
Bangladesh’s current production capacity of 7,000 MW falls far short of its demand of 10,000 MW, with only 65 percent of its 160 million population having access to the national grid.
The new combined cycle plant is located in the north western district of Sylhet, 278 kilometers (174 miles) from Dhaka. It will eventually produce another 130 MW and will be completed by September 2015.
The $310 million project will raise electricity output by the power unit of Summit, a conglomerate whose activities range from shipping to communications, to nearly 1,200 MW, almost 12 percent of Bangladesh’s total, and will take the group’s total investment in the power sector to $1.2 billion.
Muhammad Aziz Khan, managing director of the unit and chairman of Summit Group, told Reuters the project was financed in part via 15 year loans of $70 million each from International Finance Corp, a commercial arm of the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank.
The loans were provided at an interest rate of around 4.65 percent.
“The remaining $100 million is equity, of which Summit has provided 80 percent and the rest 20 percent comes from General Electric,” Aziz said.
The plant will use 50 million cubic feet of natural gas per day from the Bibiyana gas field owned by state-managed Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corp (Petrobangla). The field is operated by Chevron.
It is just one of a number of plants being opened by Summit.
Summit Bibiyana II Power Company Limited (SBPCL II)
Summit Bibiyana II Power Company Limited (SBIIPCL) is implementing Bibiyana II 341 MW gas-fired combined cycle power plant, one of the largest IPP (Independent Power Producer) projects in Bangladesh, at Parkul village, Nabiganj Thana in Hobiganj District, approximately 180 km northeast of Dhaka. This project consists of one (1) GE 9 FA Gas Turbine Generator, one (1) Heat Recovery Steam Generator from Hangzhou Boiler Group and one (1) Steam Turbine Generator from Harbin Turbine Corporation.
SBIIPCL, the project company with 80% ownership by Summit Industrial and Mercantile Corporation (Pvt.) Limited (SIMCL) and 20% by General Electric (GE), has been incorporated in Bangladesh in 2011. The consortium of SIMCL and GE has been selected, though international competitive bidding process, by Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and Government of Bangladesh (GOB) as the project sponsor. It has executed Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), Gas Supply Agreement (GSA), Implementation Agreement (IA) and Land Lease Agreement (LLA) with BPDB, and the GOB and their line agencies on 12 May 2011.
The project is being executed by SBIIPCL through an EPC contract awarded to a consortium of The First Northeast Electric Power Engineering Corporation of China Energy Engineering Group (“NEPC”) and China Energy Engineering Group Co., Ltd. (“CEEC”). The Final Notice to Proceed was issued to EPC Contractor in January 2013.
The 20-inch diameter gas pipeline connects gas supply from Bibiyana south pad to the Regulating and Metering Station (RMS) located at the project area and it is being implemented by BPDB. Fuel gas will be supplied to the Gas Turbine through gas pressure control and conditioning skid. Dry low NOx burners are employed to restrict the NOx emissions.
A jetty for transportation, loading and unloading of equipment, heavy materials and machineries has been constructed on the bank of Kushiyara River.
The water requirement of the project is met from the river Kushiyara. River water intake system will supply water for cooling system, auxiliary cooling circuit as well as other power plant needs such as service and fire-fighting water.
The water drainage system comprises domestic sewage treatment system, industrial waste water treatment system and storm water drainage system. The waste water is treated to meet applicable environmental guidelines.
Power generated by the facility at 400 kV is evacuated from through 230 kV transmission line via 520 MVA, 400/230 kV Interconnecting Transformer, and 400 kV overhead transmission line. Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) is responsible for operation and maintenance of 400 kV and 230 kV Switchyard including 230 kV and 400 kV transmission systems.