Rampal Plant starts electricity production

The coal-fired Rampal Power Plant in Bagerhat has finally started electricity generation on an experimental basis through adding 660MW of electricity to the national grid produced from its first unit.

Rampal power plant, formally known as Maitree Super Thermal Power Project, started its experimental power generation from Saturday night, Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) Director Shamim Hasan said.

He said it may take a week to a month to start commercial operation of unit-1.

Anwarul Azim, deputy manager of Rampal thermal power plant, said 660MW of electricity is being produced from unit-1. Of this, 400MW is being added to the National Grid in Dhaka via Aminbazar-Gopalganj transmission line and 260MW is being supplied to Khulna-Bagerhat.

Further 660MW electricity from the coal-fired power plant’s unit-2 will be added to the national grid in June 2023, he added.

“Already 79.35 percent of the work of unit-2 has been completed,” he informed.

The 1320 MW (2x660) coal-fired power plant has been set up at a cost of approximately $2 billion and is located in Rampal, in the Bagerhat district under Khulna division of Bangladesh.

The Maitree Super Thermal Power Project is being constructed under the Indian government’s concessional financing scheme.

It was built by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) for the Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company Private Ltd. The latter is a 50:50 joint venture company between India’s National Thermal Power Company (NTPC) Ltd and Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), said the officials.

Rampal power plant is being set up with super critical technology to actively mitigate environmental impact.

The coal imported as raw material for power generation at this station is being transported through the Pasur river in the Sundarbans.

Unit-1 of the power plant was successfully synchronised with the national grid on August 15 this year.

On September 6, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi jointly unveiled unit-1 of the power plant.

Once both units are commissioned, Rampal power plant will be one of the largest in Bangladesh, Subhash Chandra Pandey, project director of Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company (Pvt.) Limited, told UNB.