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Barishal 350 MW (BEPCL) Coal Power Plant (Phase 2)

  • Jun 21
  • 4 min read

Current Status: Shelved

Representational Photo: Dialogue Earth


Barishal 350 MW Coal Power Plant (Phase II), also called Barishal Coal Power Station (Unit-II), is a shelved Ultra-supercritical (USC) thermal power plant to be situated at Khottar Char of Ankujan Para in Nishanbaria Union under Taltoli Upazila in Barguna District of Bangladesh (Location: 21.9647, 90.0714). It was proposed by Barisal Electrical Power Company Limited (BEPCL), a Joint Venture Company (JVC) of Sinohydro (Hong Kong) Holdings Limited (SHKH) and ISO Tech Electrification Company Limited (ITECL), as a private Independent Power Producer (IPP) for 25 years. But no progress was seen by December 2022 when the Government of Bangladesh (GOB) declared not to build any more coal power plants in the country.


Capacity

The capacity of the power plant was set to 350 MW.


Context

On August 30, 2018, Powerchina Hebei Electric Power Design & Research Institute Co, a subsidiary of Powerchina, entered into an agreement to provide preliminary design and technical consultation services for the Barisal 2×350MW coal-fired power station (CD, 2018). Though unit-1 successfully came into operation, unit-2 didn't make it to operation. Many protests and allegations of land acquisition, environmental concerns have been made by local people and the Bangladesh Working Group on Ecology and Development(BWGED) (NAB, 2018; Siddique, 2021). As of 2022, the project relied on financial backing and engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) assistance from PowerChina, and its progression appeared doubtful. And it became shelved as the Government of Bangladesh (GOB) declared not to build any more coal power plants in the country with canceling coal based power plants (TDS, 2020; TDS, 2021).


Land Acquisition

There was no more public information available about the project's status as of September 2023. As of August 2023, however, correspondence with partner organizations revealed that land acquisition activities were still under progress. But according to another source the project covers a total of 300-acre site at Angujan village of Taltali upazila in Barguna (EB, 2019). 


Finance

The financiers of the unit 1 were ISO Tech Electrification Company Limited (ITECL), Sinohydro (Hong Kong) Holdings Limited (SHKHL), and BEDICL, with a budget of $557.89 million. BEDICL invested $149.04 million, while ITECL and SHKHL invested $6.48 million each, holding 92%, 4%, and 4% share of the project.  70% of the project's funding was provided by an unidentified foreign loan totaling $378.00 million. The Export-Import Bank of China and the Bank of China formed a syndicate that provided the first US dollar loan to Barishal Power Generation Co., Ltd (Power. IN-EN, 2021). In order to emphasize the value of a strong energy infrastructure, the government of Bangladesh contributes $17.89 million for the transmission line. But the finance of the second unit is not available yet.


Sponsors

The sponsors were supposed to be Barisal Electrical Power Company Limited (BEPCL), a Joint Venture Company (JVC) of Sinohydro (Hong Kong) Holdings Limited (SHKH) and ISO Tech Electrification Company Limited (ITECL).


Contractors

The Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractor of the power plant was PowerChina. 


Fuel Supply

Coal was going to be used as a fuel for the power plant. The power is still included in the government's energy plan, but it is unlikely to move further since it requires funding and engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) help from PowerChina.


Power Generation

No power has been generated as the power plant has been shelved. 


Environment

Compliance with Section 12 of the 1995 Bangladesh Environment Protection Act required industries, including potentially polluting entities like power plants, to undergo both an Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) and an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), as specified in the 1997 Environmental Conservation Rules  (MOLJPA 1995; MOEFCC, 1997). The absence of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report for the power plant in the past raised concerns. An environmentally conscious alternative involves implementing a carbon tax and transitioning towards renewable energy sources. According to the environmental conservation rule 2023 the project falls in the “Red” indicating it as a potential harmful project for the environment  (MOEFCC 2023).


References

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