Payra power plant buzzing with activity

[Bilal9]

Arun Karmakar, from Payra, Patuakhali | Update: 18:24, Dec 23, 2017

Around 6000 professionals have been working round the clock to complete construction work on the 1,320MW coal-fired Payra power plant at Dhankhali in Patuakhali's Kalapara upazila.

Being built by Bangladesh-China Power Company Ltd (BCPCL), the plant, if completed, would be country's largest coal-fired power plant.

The BCPCL is a 50:50 joint venture between Bangladesh’s North-West Power Generation Company Limited (NWPGCL) and China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMC).

During a visit to the project on Friday, around 1,500 Chinese and some 4,500 local workers were seen busy working on the completion of the project on time.

Around 35 per cent of the construction work of the project, including piling for infrastructure building, constructing an iron frame for first unit's boiler, project roads, and more is already complete, said BCPCL officials.

They expected they would be able to bring in the required machineries for the plant in the first half of 2018.

The estimated cost of the project is $1.6 billion, 80 per cent of which is expected to come as a loan from China's Exim Bank. The rest would be invested by NWPGCL and CMC.

The EPC contractor, which won the contract, is a consortium of First Northeast Electric Power Engineering Company (NEPC) of China and China National Energy Engineering and Construction Company Ltd (CECC).

NWPGCL managing director AM Khurshedul Alam told Prothom Alo that there would be two 660MW units in the project.

The first unit of the power plant is expected to supply electricity by April 2019 and the second unit will start generation in October, he added.

The NWPGCL has been allotted land of 1000 acres near Payra port. Besides the 1,320MW plant, a 3,600MW LNG-based power plant, a 100MW solar plant, and a 50MW wind turbine plant will be set up here in the 100-acre land.

State minister for power, energy and mineral resources Nasrul Hamid visited the Payra project on Friday.

He said that the power plant project at Payra will produce a total of 900 megawatts of electricity and for this $12 billion would be invested.

 

[Bilal9]

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Status as of July 2017

Both units going operational by October 2019.

There is a countdown timer on site.

 

[Homo Sapiens]

The NWPGCL has been allotted land of 1000 acres near Payra port. Besides the 1,320MW plant, a 3,600MW LNG-based power plant, a 100MW solar plant, and a 50MW wind turbine plant will be set up here in the 1000-acre land.

5,070 MW from one place.

 

[Bilal9]

5,070 MW from one place.

IKR!

 

[bluesky]

The NWPGCL has been allotted land of 1000 acres near Payra port. Besides the 1,320MW plant, a 3,600MW LNG-based power plant, a 100MW solar plant, and a 50MW wind turbine plant will be set up here in the 100-acre land.

I am surprised how fast Bd is building so many power plants within a short span of time. Total here is a staggering 5,070 mW. I must praise the present AL govt for showing foresightedness. By the way, no news about Rampal. Have the anti-BD communist elements led by that Annu Muhammad successfully derailed the project?

 

[UKBengali]

I am surprised how fast Bd is building so many power plants within a short span of time. Total here is a staggering 5,070 mW. I must praise the present AL govt for showing foresightedness. By the way, no news about Rampal. Have the anti-BD communist elements led by that Annu Muhammad successfully derailed the project?

Think the cash-strapped Indians cannot come up with the 2 billion dollars to fund the project.

I am surprised how fast Bd is building so many power plants within a short span of time. Total here is a staggering 5,070 mW. I must praise the present AL govt for showing foresightedness. By the way, no news about Rampal. Have the anti-BD communist elements led by that Annu Muhammad successfully derailed the project?

Despite the inadequacies of AL, they need to win next year as BD needs stability till mid-2020s to modernise infrastructure and the defence forces.

 

[Bilal9]

I am surprised how fast Bd is building so many power plants within a short span of time. Total here is a staggering 5,070 mW. I must praise the present AL govt for showing foresightedness. By the way, no news about Rampal. Have the anti-BD communist elements led by that Annu Muhammad successfully derailed the project?

Well they complained to UNESCO who declared the site 'World Heritage Site'.

Even in India, environmentalists there asked Mr. Modi to withdraw support for the plant. Seems like it is in Limbo AFAIK.

Lately - protests have gotten strong enough that the US EXIM Bank may have stopped disbursement of funds to the Orion Coal Plant in the same area. Environmental rapists like this have to be stopped.

"US and Bangladeshi environmental groups and activists yesterday jointly handed over a petition to the Export-Import Bank of the United States urging not to finance coal-based power plant projects in Bangladesh that threaten the Sundarbans.

The petition contained over 150,000 signatures, including those from Sierra Club, Friends of Earth, Rainforest Action Network, Center for Biological Diversity, Bangladesh Environmental Network, EcoSikh, Brown and Green: South Asian Americans for Climate Justice, and Environmental Movement Atlanta."

http://www.thedailystar.net/city/us-exim-bank-urged-refrain-financing-1247995

Latest....

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Rampal power plant: Protesters will write to Modi to scrap project
Sun Online Desk 6th October, 2016 07:17:41

Protesters said Thursday that said they will write to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urge him to take steps to scrap the Rampal power plant in Bangladesh near the world's largest mangrove forest - the Sundarbans.

National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports, the major body that is campaigning against the plant, will hand the letter to Indian high commissioner on October 18, reports the Daily Star.

Member secretary of the body, Anu Muhammad, made the announcement at a press briefing in Dhaka adding that on the day of the handover, the committee will bring out a procession at Jatiya Press Club.

Despite widespread criticism and protest from green activists, the Bangladesh Government is going ahead with the construction of the 1,320-megawatt Rampal power plant and India's state-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL) has received the contract to build it.

However, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has time and again stated that the government would adopt ways to avoid any environmental hazards due to the plant saying that it will use high-end technology at the plant to mitigate the hazards and that the process would be monitored by the regulator, Department of Environment.

 

[Homo Sapiens]

December 24, 2017
Move To Create 9000MW Power Hub At Payra
Shahnaj Begum back from Payra in Patuakhali



The government has undertaken another milestone plan to set up a new energy hub in the country’s southern part through installing four mega power projects and a small size LNG Terminal at Payra in Patuakhali district.

Under the plan, around 9000-MW of electricity will be produced from here in the next couple of years, using coal and LNG to implement the power sector master plan.
“To create this new energy hub in the country’s southern part, we need about $US13 billion, which is three times more than the cost of Padma Bride project,” State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said while addressing a press conference at Payra Friday noon.
To implement the project, the government to take loan from China and Europe, he added.
Infrastructure development work, including land filling, power and energy connections, machineries’ loading, water-navigation, construction work of the approach roads are going in the area.


“We already completed 34 per cent work of the projects by this time, we are ahead of the schedule and hopefully we could be able to complete it by the stipulate timeframe,” Nasrul Hamid said.
The plants which are to be built on a 397 hectares of land is a part of the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina government’s plan to set up a series of coal-fired power projects to generate 20,000MWelectricity by 2030.
As per the government plan, the first unit of 1320 (660) MW coal-power project will come into operation by April 2019 and another one will come into operation by October 2019.
The government has already engaged state-owned North-West Power Generation Company Limited (NWPGCL) to produce 6,240MW of electricity from this energy hub. It has also engaged Chinese CMC to produce another 1320MW of power, Germen’s Siemens to produce 3600 MW from LNG, Rural Power Company to produce 1320 MW and Asuganj Power Company to produce 1320 MW of electricity in the next couple of years.


Nasrul said the government will build energy hub in different parts of the country to fulfil its dream to make Bangladesh a middle income country.
Talking to the reporters, the State Minister said the government gives importance to diversification in electricity generation. The projects will be the best of an example, he said.
International lenders have already shown keen interest in financing the projects. Both NWPGCL and CMC are working closely to raise the required funds from the global market under an overseas investment insurance guarantee from China Export & Credit for Insurance Corporation (Sinosure).
“Payra power plants will not only provide power but also create a host of coal-based infrastructure projects, creating decent paying jobs,” Nasrul added.
Bangladesh-China Power Company Pvt Limited (BCPCL), a joint venture firm of Chinese power company CMC and state-owned North-West Power Generation Company Limited (NWPGCL), will implement the mega power projects.
Two units with a capacity of 660MW each will be set up at Dhankhali in Patuakhali district, 319 kilometers (199 miles) south of Dhaka and close to the Payra sea port.
Bangladesh needs to produce 24,000 MW of electricity daily by 2021 to meet its demand for power that is growing 10 percent annually. At present, it produces 8,500MW a day and has the capacity to produce 11,000 MW per day.
“After achieving the 24,000MW goal, we will be planning for producing 60,000MW of electricity,” hopes Nasrul Hamid.
Several solar power projects, including the establishment of solar parks, are being implemented to bring diversification in power generation, the state minister said.
http://energybangla.com/move-to-create-9000mw-power-hub-at-payra/

 

[bluesky]

December 26, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 03:04 AM, December 26, 2017
Payra 'Power Hub': Dev frenzy wakes a lonesome land

Rejaul Karim Byron

Just nine months ago, Dhankhali in Kalapara of Patuakhali was nothing but a barren land with a handful of houses. But now there is activity, on a massive scale.
More than 3,500 Bangladeshi and Chinese engineers and workers are working round the clock there to get the country's first plant of the coal-based "power hub" up and running.

The electricity generation plant of the “power hub” is being built on the Payra river nearly 70km from Patuakhali district town at a cost of $1.6 billion.

Already 31 percent of the work is done and the authorities are hopeful that a 660MW unit will be commissioned by April 2019 and another 660MW one by October the same year.

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid along with a media team visited the power plant on Friday.

"Even three months ago the site was a barren land. But our engineers have been going ahead faster than the schedule they had been given," the minister told reporters.

The government plans to generate around 9,000MW from the coal-based “power hub” in the next five years, he said.

Nasrul Hamid said this was a desolate area without any road network and everything has to be built which is a big challenge.

Kalapara is on the two-lane road from Barisal to Kuakata via Patuakhali. The power plant site in Dhankhali is connected to Kalapara by a narrow 14km-long unpaved road.

Although the roads are currently in bad shape, earth filling was going on to expand the road to a dual carriageway.

About 1,000 acres of the power plant area has been fenced off with wall topped by barbed wires and special security has been implemented at Key Point Installations.

A herculean work is going on inside where about 1,500 Chinese engineers and workers, including women, work. About 2,000 local workers, including those affected by the land acquisition for the hub, have also been given jobs there.

The ground has been raised by seven meters at places by earth filling and the filling is still going on.

The structure of the first power plant has been completed where the machineries will be set up. Work on the construction of a silo to store the imported coal was going on.

Nasrul Hamid said five power plants would be set up inside the 1,000-acre area and those would produce about 6600MW. The remaining plants would be built in the vicinity.

A joint venture company, Bangladesh-China Power Company (Pvt) Ltd (BCPCL), has been formed with North-West Power Generation Company Ltd (NWPGCL) of Bangladesh, and China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMC), for producing 1320MW of power.

The company was formed in March 2016. Land development work started that year and the construction work started in April.

Nasrul Hamid said for producing 9,000MW, around $12 billion would be spent, which was equal to the cost of constructing four Padma bridges. He said this would be the biggest power plant hub in the country.

The state minister said when the Padma Bridge is complete, the economic activities sparked by it would require about 12,000MW of electricity in the south-east area and the majority of it would be supplied from the Payra hub.

He said the power plant would use imported coal. They were in negotiations with Australia and Indonesia for importing coal. An expert had also been appointed for importing environment-friendly coal at a low cost, he said.

The state minister said the coal would be kept in the silo so that it did not pollute the local environment.

Construction work of the nearby port is still at the primary stage and when asked how the coal would be brought in, he said they would offload coal from ships on their own jetty.

He said the cost of electricity, to be produced by the coal-based power plant, would be much cheaper, around $.08 equivalent to Tk 6.40 kW/h.

The $1.6 billion cost of the plant includes 20 percent equity and 80 percent loans. The Chinese Exim Bank will finance the project.

Nasrul Hamid said China and Bangladesh share 50-50 equity.

He said a big challenge in setting up the power plant was resettlement of the displaced people. For each displaced family, a house and a pond are being built. They will be trained so that they can get jobs in the project area. Educational institutions and medical facilities will also be built for them, the state minister said.

 

[bluesky]

Govt plans to turn Patuakhali’s Payra into a ‘power hub’
Reazul Bashar, returning from Payra, bdnews24.com

Published: 2017-12-25 15:45:45.0 BdST Updated: 2017-12-25 15:45:45.0 BdST

• 

Construction has begun on the first power plant in a planned project to develop Patuakhali’s Payra into a ‘hub’ for electricity generation.

State Minister for Power Nasrul Hamid says, if the construction proceeds according to schedule, the first 600 MW unit from the 1,320 MW capacity plant will be available within 16 months. The plant would then be the largest in the country.

Other large plants, like the the 1,320 MW coal-fired plant in Bagerhat’s Rampal, had been scheduled to begin generating power by 2018, but the date was pushed back to June, 2021.

Currently Bangladesh’s power generation capacity is nearly 16,000 MW. The government plans to take it to 24,000 MW by 2021 and 40,000 MW by 2030.

The main phase of construction for the 2,000 MW nuclear power plant in Pabna’s Rooppur began this year. Construction is also on-going at several coal and gas based power plants in Cox’s Bazar, Chittagong, Patuakhali and Bagerhat.


State Minister Hamid took several members of the media for a tour of the construction site of the coal-based power plant in Patuakhali’s Dhankhali, on the banks of the Payra River.

Nearly 1,000 acres of land have been allocated and fenced off for the project. The ground has been raised by seven metres using sand to protect the project from floods, tidal surges and other natural disasters.

The main construction work began after the land development was complete. Nearly 3,500 workers, including 1,500 foreigners, are at work on the project.

“Nearly 31 percent of the project is complete. Ultra super critical technologies are being used to build the most modern power plant,” Hamid said.

During Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s 2014 China visit, a joint agreement was signed between Bangladesh’s North West Power Company and China’s National Machinery Import and Export Corporation.


The two companies later formed the Bangladesh China Power Company Limited.

The joint venture is performing construction work on the project under the supervision of Chinese contractors NEPC and CECC Consortium.

The first unit of the Tk 122.84 billion power plant will be available in May 2019, while the second unit is scheduled for six months afterwards.


The China EXIM Bank and China Development Bank are providing 80 percent of the project’s cost through loans.

The price of each unit of power has been set at Tk 6.65.

State Minister Hamid says there are plans to import coal from Indonesia for the project. A jetty is to be constructed for coal delivery to the plant, he said. They will also receive support from the Payra Port.

Construction is underway on a port on the Payra in the Ramnabad Channel near the power plant. The government says it also has plans to convert it into a ‘deep sea port’.

In addition to the port, nine power plants, with a combined capacity of 9,000 MW is to be constructed in Payra in the next five years, the state minister said. The project will make Payra ‘Bangladesh’s biggest electric hub’, he said.

“Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has undertaken this project in consideration of the people in southern Bangladesh. The completion of the Padma Bridge will increase the demand for power by 12,000 MW in the south-west region,” he said.

The North West Power Generation Company has also signed an agreement with Germany’s Siemens AG to construct an additional project on 100 acres of land that will use coal and imported LNG to generate 3,600 MW of electricity.


“Once the construction of the plant is complete we will move on to the second phase,” said North West Power Managing Director AM Khoshedul Alam told bdnews24.com.

“The capacity of that project will be 1,320 MW.”

The government is also working to develop ‘power hubs’ at Cox’s Bazar’s Matarbari and Moheshkhali, according to State Minister Hamid.

Currently, construction is underway of 36 more power plants across the country, both in the public and private sector, which will able to generate 12,036 MW of power.

Tenders for an additional 41 plants generating 7,374MW more power are being processed. The government also has plans for 14 further projects to increase the capacity by 9,000 MW.

 

[Bilal9]

Not to be too OT about this - but NWPGCL who are developing Payra, have also developed the following projects,

Bheramara CCPP 360MW,

Khulna 225MW,

Sirajganj 225 MW Combined Cycle (Dual Fuel-1st Unit) Power Plant

The erection of heavy duty structures and all large heavy duty trunking and process conduit was undertaken by Bengal Electric, who used their locally custom-built barge-mounted crane for lifting and transporting the transformers (~200 ton) using air suspension trailers for all these projects.

150 ton transformer being lifted and other heavy duty items being transported (below)

 

[bluesky]

The erection of heavy duty structures and all large heavy duty trunking and process conduit was undertaken by Bengal Electric, who used their locally custom-built barge-mounted crane for lifting and transporting the transformers (~200 ton) using air suspension trailers for all these projects.

150 ton transformer being lifted and other heavy duty items being transported

I praise this not so fine-tuned crane built by the technicians of BD, because it is milestone of real technology progress, however small it may be. Whatever the foreign companies are doing here are certainly beneficial to the country because the plants will be producing electricity and the electricity will be operating the machines to produce goods 'made in Bangladesh'.

Even then, I have the highest acclamation for the barge mounted crane, because it was built by us.

 

[Bilal9]

I praise this not so fine-tuned crane built by the technicians of BD, because it is milestone of real technology progress, however small it may be. Whatever the foreign companies are doing here are certainly beneficial to the country because the plants will be producing electricity and the electricity will be operating the machines to produce goods 'made in Bangladesh'.

Even then, I have the highest acclamation for the barge mounted crane, because it was built by us.

Well - here's a piece of news from earlier this year that will make you very happy then. Bengal electric has designed and finished a 1000 ton capacity crane.

While engineering capacity to design this has been legion in our country for ages, and our talent ends up working overseas, we have always imported instead of built this type of crane, but that will end with this. We Bangladeshis are our own worst enemy because we put down our own country frequently by not being as knowledgeable as we should be.

I congratulate Bengal Electric and Engr. Abdus Salaam Shaheb for this wonderful milestone and achievement he gave our country which is not only quite rare in the subcontinent but even in the West. If this had happened in India, they'd be jumping up and down and telling everyone what a great achievement it is. But we bad mouth our own.

I wish Bangladeshis would stop bickering amongst ourselves over petty politics, stop being lackies of other countries/interests for once and contribute something productive to the country like him.

_______________________________________________________________

Bangladesh-based Bengal Electric to unveil 1,000-ton floating crane

Bangladesh-based Bengal Electric said it expects in July 2017 to have a new floating crane with 1,000-ton capacity ready for operation.

The crane will measure 260 feet long, 66 feet wide and 15 feet above the water level, and is designed to operate at temperatures ranging from minus 30 to plus 55 celsius (minus 22 to 131 fahrenheit). The crane is also equipped with all the necessary safety gear with LMI and advanced computerised load weighing software.

Mottakin Salam, Bengal’s deputy managing director, said the design and construction of the crane took 10 years. He said cranes of this size are not available in many Asian countries and that Bengal hopes to use it to become “a major player in this market.”

“Our new 1,000 tonne capacity mega floating crane is now in the final stages of assembly and will be among the biggest in the region. We are proud and honored to build this crane which will be an asset not only for our company, but for the whole nation of Bangladesh.”

It has taken 10 years of hard work to build this mega crane which is not available in many countries in Asia and we look forward to expanding into the international arena and becoming a major player for these countries. The crane is half the size of a football field and can accommodate crews of 30-40 with modern facilities and amenities.”

The whole Finite Element Analysis Exercise & Drawings were prepared by Mr. Mottakin Salam whilst the crane boom was designed by Bengal Electric Chairman & CEO, Mr. Abdus Salam – both Bengal Directors are expert engineers with many years of experience in the heavy engineering field.

Since its founding in 1969, Bengal has been involved in numerous major construction projects for electrical power generation, transmission and distribution, optical fiber cables, railway signaling, heavy and over-sized shipments and other specialized logistics work.

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Prior to this 1000 tonne capacity crane, they had built another major 600 tonne crane as seen below. They also possess numerous other cranes and lifting/transport equipment and implements in the 100~500 tonnes capacity range.

 

[Thanatos]

Excellent work. I am really impressed with such megaprojects. Pakistan has alot to learn from Bangladesh in establishing massive powerplants.

 

[EastBengalPro]

Bangladesh has learnt its lessons from 2014 Black out. Soon Bangladesh will be self sufficient on Electricity production and there will be no need to import electricity.