Energy Bangla

Bangladesh is set to sign five MoUs worth about US$15 billion with Indian private sector for the import of electricity, fuel and installation of four coal-fired power projects in Bangladesh.
It is also set to sign a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with GAIL India to establish the proposed strategic gas grid connectivity between India and Bangladesh, to support the energy-starved country, according to the Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry.
It is expected that the proposed MoUs will be signed next month during the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Dhaka.
The Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources has concluded a inter-ministerial meeting on Tuesday to scrutinize the proposals of the Indian  private companies, which earlier showed interest in investing in Bangladesh’s power and energy sector.
“We are expecting to sign four MoUs with India in the power sector and one in the energy sector. We may get 6,200 MW of electricity from coal-fired power projects and 1,200 MW of hydro-electricity from Arunachal Pradesh and 3,000 MW from LNG power projects,” Director General of Power Cell Mohammad Hossain told on Tuesday.
The MoUs will be signed with the Indian business conglomerates Reliance, Adani and GAIL.
According to sources, Reliance group will set up two 800 MW coal-fired power plants in India and Bangladesh will buy the total output of the plants on payment of 18 per cent royalty.
Adani is to install same capacity coal-fired power plants in Chittagong, The government will also sign a MoU with Reliance’s much-talked about project of 3,000 MW LNG-fired power plant, but it did not agree to allow the company to set it up at Meghnaghat.
“We did not earmark any location for this project. Our plan is to sit first and examine the options,” a senior official of PDB said.
Power Cell DG told this correspondent, “Reliance Group is going to install a mega-hydro power project at Himachal Pradesh. They are keen to export 1,200 MW of electricity to Bangladesh from this project. We are ready to sign a MoU in this regard,” he said.
Adani Power’s existing projects are facing problems due to issues such as environmental clearance from India and the Indonesian pricing change.
According to a company statement, Adani Group plans to invest $6 billion (around Rs.30,000 crore) by 2015 to develop three businesses-resources, logistics and energy. It took lease of a coal mine in Australia, which is producing around 60 million tonnes of coal annually from the current fiscal year.
The former Chairman and Managing Director of GAIL, formerly known as Gas Authority of India Ltd, Proshanto Banerjee, now adviser (business development) to H-Energy East Coast Private Ltd. (HEECPL), submitted a proposal to the then Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in mid-2013.
The Indian policymakers accepted the idea as this facility was intended to supply gas to West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar and some northern Indian states through the proposed Haldia-Jagdishpur pipeline of GAIL India. It would also connect Kolkata.
It was learnt that Petrobangla, the state-owned oil and gas exploration company, is ready to join hands with GAIL India to establish the proposed strategic gas grid connectivity if the Indian natural gas processing and distribution company agrees to fix the gas delivery point at Benapole in Jessore district.
“The issue of getting LNG from Nomanigar or Petrapole point will also be discussed in the bi-lateral meeting,” a senior official of the Energy ministry said.
The government is considering a proposal from GAIL India, to set up strategic gas grid connectivity between the two countries and build a floating Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal near Chittagong port.