top of page
Search

Dimla 50 MW (Scatec) Solar Power Plant

  • Jun 24
  • 4 min read

Current Status: Pre-Construction

Source: (RisingBD.Com) 


Dimla 50 MW Solar Power Plant is also known as 50-megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant. Scatec Solar, operating through a special purpose vehicle called Bangla Sun Solar Limited (BSSL), is spearheading the development of a power plant situated in Baish Pukur village, Dimla Upazila, within the Nilphamari District of Rangpur Division in North Bangladesh (Location : 26.1407, 88.9335) approximately. Exact location is not found. The power plant is supposed to start its commercial operation from 31 December 2022 for a time period of 20 years, according to that it is supposed to retire on 30 December 2042 but didn't finish its construction yet.


Capacity

The installed (gross) capacity of the power plant is 50 MW.


Context

On 27 January 2019, Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) issued a Letter of Intent (LOI) as a preliminary commitment to install this power plant in village Baish Pukur, Upazila (Sub-district) Dimla; District Nilphamari; Rangpur Division of North Bangladesh  (BPDB 2022). According to the LOI, the expected Commercial Operation Date (COD) of the power plant is scheduled as 31 December 2022. But the respective Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) is yet to be signed (BPDB 2022).


In 27 September 2023 , Cabinet committee on power purchase gave tariff approval to ASK New Energy Co., AJ Power Co. Ltd. and a consortium of ATN Solutions Ltd to set up a 50 MW (AC) solar power plant in Dimla Upazila (BB ,2023).

The Scatec Solar project, developed through BSSL, is a 50 MW AC / 62.5 MW DC solar PV plant located in Baish Pukur village, Dimla Upazila, Nilphamari District, using more than 100 hectares of privately purchased land, with development commencing in 2019. (FMO, 2020) Land acquisition challenges delayed the project significantly, with only 185 of the required 245 acres secured as of December 2020 (PT, 2023).

A separate consortium of ASK New Energy Co. Ltd., AJ Power Co. Ltd., and ATN Solutions Ltd. received approval to build a 50 MW solar plant at Dimla under a 20-year PPA with BPDB at $0.098/kWh on a build-own-operate basis lower than Scatec's projected tariff of $0.11/kWh. (PVM, 2023)

If electricity is purchased from the power plant on the basis of 'no electricity, no payment', the company will have to pay BDT 1,732 crore 80 lakh at 12 percent discount factor and 18 percent plant factor for a period of 20 years.


Land Acquisition

Approximately 247.10 acres of privately acquired land is used to develop this power plant.


Finance

This solar power plant will be set up under IPP (Independent Power Plant) under BOO (Build Own Operate) method. In this, the total cost of the government to buy electricity for 20 years will be BDT 1733 crore (Channel 24, 2023). In this case, the government will have to pay BDT 10 tK 7 paise per kilowatt hour for 20 years ( BB ,2023)


Sponsor

Bangla Sun Solar Limited (BSSL) and  Scatec Limited, Netherlands were proposed to sponsor this power plant .


Contractor

Scatec signed a partnership agreement with AK Khan & Company Limited (AKK) to form Scatec Solar Bangladesh Limited, a joint venture Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to install and operate the power plant (Scatec 2017). Under the Built Own Operate (BOO) basis, a consortium of ASK New Energy Company Limited, AJ Power Company Limited and ATN Solutions Limited will set up the solar power plant at Dimla Upazila of Nilphamari.


Fuel Supply

Solar energy will be used to get electricity from this power plant.


Power Generation

The installed capacity of the power plant is 50 MW.


Environment

According to Section 12 of the 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 1997 (superseded by ECR 2023) (MOEFCC 1997). This power plant will emit less carbon than other fossil fuel power plants. The surrounding environment will not be harmed by this power plant. But necessary environmental analysis is required for proper analysis of the impacts and benefits of the power plant. According to the environmental conservation rule 2023 the project falls in the “yellow” indicating it as a slightly harmful project for the environment (MOEFCC 2023).


References

 
 
bottom of page