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Oct 12, 20234 min read

Narayanganj 6 MW (SABS Syndicate) WTE Power Plant

Current Status: Announced

(Source: Dhaka Tribune)


Narayanganj 6 MW WTE Power Plant, also known as Narayanganj City Corporation Waste-to-Energy Power Project, is a proposed power plant to be situated in the Jalkuri area under Siddhirganj Upazila in Narayanganj District of Bangladesh (Location: 23.6750, 90.4972). The power plant is initiated by the Narayanganj City Corporation (NCC) and to be installed by a Bangladesh-China consortium of UD Environmental Equipment Technology Company Limited, Everbright Environmental Technology Equipment (Changzhou) Limited and SABS Syndicate Limited of Bangladesh as a private Independent Power Producer (IPP) for 20 years (Hasan 2021).


Capacity

The proposed installed (gross) capacity of Jalkuri WTE Power Plant is 6 MW.


Context

The Prime Minister directed the authorities to plan a waste-to-power plant project in 2015 during an Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) meeting. The Power Division took some initiatives to conduct a study on the potential of WTE in Bangladesh. LGRD Ministry proceeded with the initiative in April 2019 and formed a working group in June 2019 for formulating a guideline for a waste to power project. In July 2019, the working group submitted a report with a guideline (Hasan 2019).


Following the guideline, the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) approved the project on 16 September 2020 (Hasan 2021). Subsequently, BPDB issued an LOI to the sponsors on 11 October 2020 as a preliminary commitment to commission the power plant (BPDB 2022). The Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), which is the most important document to start the construction work, is yet to be signed.


Land Acquisition

The NCC had taken up a project to develop the Jalkuri Sanitary Landfill area with an estimated budget of BDT 345 crore (USD 37 million when USD 1=BDT 106.79). NCC has already bought a land of 23.29 acres for the project. NCC handed over 10 acres of land to the sponsors according to the Prime Minister’s direction given on 31 October 2017 (NCC 2021).


Finance

In FY 2021-2022, the Government allocated BDT 330 crore for land development in the Jalkuri area. Total estimated budget or any name of the External Credit Agency (ECA) finance has not been disclosed till date.


Contractors

The UD-Everbright-SABS Consortium has been selected as the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Contractor of the power plant. Suppliers of incineration technology and equipment are yet to be disclosed.


Fuel Supply

At least 1,000 tonnes of solid waste is produced in NCC everyday. Out of those, NCC is responsible to supply at least 600 tonnes of solid waste to use as fuel for the power plant (Rita 2022). But the city corporation can supply only 500 tonnes of combustible solid waste. So, NCC plans to collect 100 tonnes of solid waste from other towns of Narayanganj District (NCC 2021).


Power Generation

According to the LOI, the expected Commercial Operation Date (COD) of the power plant is scheduled as 30 June 2023 although any Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) is yet to be signed (BPDB 2022). BPDB will buy electricity from the power plant at a rate of USD 0.2091 (BDT 17.77) per unit (kilowatt hour) for 20 years from COD. As a result, BPDB will pay at least BDT 1,665.48 crore to the sponsors in its operation period.


Environment

According to Section 12 of Bangladesh Environment Protection Act 1995, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is obligatory for any industry (MOLJPA 1995). The polluting industries, such as power plants, have to go through an Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) and EIA as directed in the Environmental Conservation Rules 2017 (MOEFCC 1997). But, till date, no IEE or EIA report has been conducted for the power plant. In absence of any EIA report, the Deputy Director of the Department of Environment (DOE) in Narayanganj told the media that the project will have a relatively low effect on the environment (Rita 2022).


Carbon Footprint

The life cycle climate change impact (LCCCI) of electricity from WTE facilities ranges from 664g to 951g per kWh (Pfadt-Trilling et al. 2021). According to the estimation, the greenhouse gasses (GHGs) emission from the power plant could be 205.18-293.87 kilo-tonnes per year and 5.13-7.35 million tonnes in its operation period.


Criticism

The calorific value of waste might be 1,000-1,500 to generate electricity. But the solid waste from Narayanganj contains only 1350 kilocalories (Rita 2022).


Reference


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