Banshkhali plant starts experimental supply to nat’l grid

The experimental supply of power to the national grid from unit 1 of the 1,320MW SS Power Plant, a joint venture of S Alam Group and China’s SEPCO3 in Chattogram’s Banshkhali, has started.

The plant started with a 1MW supply at 2pm on May 24, which increased to 100MW by 3:30pm.

Deputy Project Director (electrical) of the plant Md Faizur Rahman said Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) would take a maximum supply of 200MW from the plant during the peak hours at night, though unit 1 can supply 500MW to the national grid.

On January 14 this year, the coal-fired plant was connected to the 400KV transmission line of the national grid. Its officials said there was no possibility of environmental pollution as the facility has been built with supper critical technology. The technology can generate more power by burning less coal.

Meanwhile, the 30MW wind power project in Khurushkhul of Cox’s Bazar is going to be experimentally connected to the national grid, said Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, adviser to the prime minister on power, energy and mineral resources, while visiting the site on May 24.

He also said the government was allowing the private sector to take up new wind power projects in order to supply electricity across the country, adding the Khurushkhul project would be fully operational by the end of this year. He then met officials of the project, Bangladesh Power Development Board, and the power ministry.

The project started in March last year. US-DK Green Energy (BD) set up the country’s first largest wind power project. During Tawfiq’s May 24 visit, the company’s Managing Director Zahirul Islam Khan said 23 turbines would be installed to generate 60MW power from wind.

He said each turbine would generate 3MW and 10 turbines had so far been installed while two more alternative ones would also be set up.

Besides, he said a proposal had been submitted to the power ministry to increase power generation from the project to up to 120MW, which would require 20 more turbines.