A swathe of 5580 acres of land on the bay island of Maheshkhali is being acquired for building a multimodal power hub, based on coal and LNG.
Officials said Wednesday Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) would acquire the Maheshkhali land for developing the site for power plants as well as LNG-import facility.
The government has planned to set up 13,560-megawatt power plants to be fueled by coal and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) on the country's southern island in the Bay of Bengal.
The state-run BPDB has taken up a Tk 11.25-billion project to acquire and develop 5580 acres of land at Maheshkhali in Cox's Bazar, said a Power Division official.
He said since the Maheshkhali is an ideal place for installing coal-and LNG-based power plants, they had taken steps to develop the land.
With the support of Japan's government, the government has already started to set up a 2X600MW coal-based power plant at Matarbari on the Maheshkhali Island, build port facilities for handling imported coal through waterways and develop a modern township there.
Besides, the government is also working to set up an LNG-gasification plant for supplying natural gas towards the country after the import through the under-construction Matarbari port, a high-voltage power- transmission line from the island to the mainland in Cox's Bazar areas.
An India-German-Bangladesh joint-venture consultancy has already submitted a draft feasibility-study report on how the maritime island could be developed to a power hub of Bangladesh.
The Power Division official said the BPDB will develop the proposed land divided into nine blocks.
In each of eight of the blocks, the government has a plan to set up 2X660MW- capacity coal-fired ultra-super critical power station and in the remaining ninth one a 4X750MW LNG-based power station, he added.
According to the power-sector master plan, the government has made a target to generate 50 per cent of its total power generation through local and imported coals, 25 per cent from the natural gas including LNG, 20 per cent from the renewable energy and 5.0 per cent from other sources.
A BPDB official said they have plans to develop the proposed 5,580 acres of land by June 2018.
"We have sought approval for a Tk 11.25-billion-project proposal in a bid to develop the land at Maheshkhali Island. We will make the island on the Bay into country's biggest power hub," he added.
    kabirhumayan10@gmail.com [Read More]

—–
Source: The Financial Express