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Keraniganj 108 MW (Dhaka North) HFO Power Plant (Unit-1)

Current Status: Construction


Keraniganj 108 MW Furnace Oil Power Plant (Unit-I), also known as Dhaka North Power Plant, is a reciprocating engine-based power plant situated in Bosila of Washpur under Keraniganj Upazila in Dhaka District of Bangladesh (Location: 23.8100, 90.2428). The power plant was proposed by Dhaka North Power Utility Company Limited (DNPUC), a subsidiary of Maisha Group, as a private Independent Power Producer (IPP) for 15 years. The power plant was to start commercial operation in October 2011, but the sponsor failed to meet the deadline. In June 2022, US-based Beringia Energy acquired the power plant and rescheduled the Commercial Operation Date (COD) to December 2023.


Capacity

The power plant's installed capacity will be 108 MW. 


Context

Beringia Energy Global (Bangladesh) Limited, a sister concern of US-based Beringa Energy, acquired 108 megawatt (MW) capacity under construction furnace oil-fired power plants (Rahman 2022). Maisha Group signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) on 12 October 2011 with an expected Commercial Operation Date (COD) of 11 October 2011. Subsequently, An agreement was signed with the Ministry of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources to implement furnace oil-fired power plant projects as an Independent Power Producer (IPP) (EP, 2022). 


After the agreement, the 108 MW plant was supposed to come into production within a year, but more than seven years have passed, and virtually no work has been done on the plant except for land development. For this reason, in May 2019, the PDB terminated the project by canceling the power purchase agreement (PPA) of the plant. DNPC, the Gabtoli 108 MW power plant's sponsor company, is given another chance keeping in mind the government's long-term power generation target. However, this time the center will be built in Keraniganj instead of Gabtoli  (JJ, 2019). According to the Beringia Energy website, the power plant is only 60% complete as of today (BE, 2023). However, it was scheduled to begin commercial operations in December 2023.


Land acquisition

Insufficient data


Finance

The total projected amount for the power plant was BDT 378 crore which is estimated to be issued from the National Bank of Bangladesh (Adnan H. and Taher A., 2021).  


Sponsors

The power plant was sponsored by Dhaka North Power Utility Company Limited (DNPUC), a subsidiary of Maisha Group, as a private Independent Power Producer (IPP) for 15 years.


Contractors

An engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract was inked with India's Magnus Power to implement this 108-megawatt (MW) furnace oil-fired power plant project (FE, 2022). The main Generating set will be supplied by MAN Diesel & Turbo company.


Fuel supply

Insufficient data


Power Generation

Insufficient data 


Environment

According to Section 12 of the Bangladesh Environment Protection Act 1995, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is obligatory for any industry (MOLJPA 1995). Polluting industries, such as power plants, must undergo an Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) and EIA as directed in the Environmental Conservation Rules 2017 (MOEFCC 1997). But, to date, no IEE or EIA report has been conducted for the power plant. Besides  HFO combustion emits pollutants such as sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter (PM), and carbon dioxide (CO2). These pollutants contribute to smog formation, acid rain, and greenhouse gas emissions, which can exacerbate climate change and adversely affect humans and wildlife.


References

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