Bangladesh CCGT Gets $500mn ADB Loan

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) June 26 said it has approved a $500mn loan to Bangladesh to develop a 800 megawatt gas-fired power plant and associated infrastructure.

The power plant, along with associated connections to natural gas and power transmission facilities, will be developed at Khulna, Bangladesh’s third largest city.

“In the face of rising demand for energy in a growing economy, the Rupsha power plant will be the first of its kind in Bangladesh, vastly increasing the availability of efficient and cleaner energy,” said ADB energy specialist Aziz Yusupov. Bangladesh is facing severe shortage of power, with supply falling well short of peak demand.

The project design will ensure that the Rupsha plant uses the latest combined cycle (CCGT) technology, which offers the highest efficiency to convert gas to electricity, said ADB, adding it will also use the most advanced water treatment processes to purify and recycle liquid waste at the end of the industrial process, leaving zero discharge.

To supply gas to the Rupsha power plant, the project will construct gas distribution pipelines of 12 km. The project will also finance construction of a 230-kilovolt switchyard at the power plant and 29 km of high capacity transmission lines to transfer generated electricity from Rupsha to the grid.

The total cost of the project is $1.14bn, with the Islamic Development Bank contributing $300mn in co-financing and the government contributing $338.5mn on top of ADB’s support. The project is due to be completed by end-June 2022. ADB’s Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, funded by the Japanese government of Japan, will also grant $1.5mn to the project to improve living standards in nearby communities.