The 1,320 MW coal-firedPayrapower plant in Patuakhali district's Kalapara upazila isready to operate at full blast.
Officials saidthe second unit of the plant, a joint venture between Bangladesh and China,has attained its generation capacity of 660 MW over the past three months and is now ready for commercial operation.
"The second unit is ready. We'llsoonput forward our proposal to the state-owned Power Bangladesh Development Board (PBDB) to start operation," said Shah Abdul Maula, project director of Bangladesh-China Power Company Limited (BCPCL).
BCPCL, a joint venture between state-ownedNorth-West Power Generation Company Bangladesh Limited (NWPGCL) and China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation,has set up the plant at $2 billion as part of a development partnership.
After undergoing test runs for about five months, thefirst unit of the Payrapower plant started commercial operation in May this year.
And ifboth the units are allowed to operate simultaneously, the plantwill jointly generate 1320 MW electricity,thus setting a milestone in the country's power sector.So far,450 MW of power has been generated from a single power plant in Bangladesh.
Though Power Transmission Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) has recently undertaken a number of transmission projects to facilitate evacuation of electricity from the Payra power project,officials are not hopeful of getting a nod for simultaneousoperationof the two units.
"This is because transmission lines are not yet synchronised. In such a case, wewill go for alternative operation of the two units," an official said.
Thesetransmission projectsinclude construction of 160km 400kV double circuit line from Payra plant to Gopalganj, 164.6km Aminbazar-Mawa-Gopalganj-Mongla 400 kV double circuit line and 9.4km river-crossing line close to Padma Bridge.
PGCB officials said all these projects are being implemented targeting the power evacuation from both the Payra and Rampal plants and these will cost about Tk 4,650 crore, of which Tk 3,294 crore will be spent on Payra plant transmission facilities.
However, the 9.4km river-crossing line close to Padma Bridgehas not been progressing in an expected pace, which is creating an obstacle for evacuation of entire electricity from the Payra power plant, officials said.
Admitting the delay, PGCB managing director Golam Kibria saidthe deadline to implement all the Payra-linked transmission projects is March 2021. "But the delay in Padma Bridge work due to Covid-19 could push the deadline to December next year."
