Matarbari Power Plant is raising its Head

Sunday, October 10, 2021

Matarbari Power Plant is raising its Head

The whole Matarbari area has changed; The Matarbari power plant is raising its head, the jetty is being prepared. The Panama-flagged Venus Triumph first landed on the jetty for the Matarbari power plant on December 2020. It brought construction materials for the coal power plant. Even four years ago, only salt cultivation could be seen on Matarbari area in Cox's Bazar district. The days have changed and now there are turbines and chimneys peeking out.

Gradually the construction work began to take the shape of a power plant. And plans to build a deep sea port in the far deep sea have also begun to materialize. The work of building a jetty on the shore has already progressed a lot, and ships have also crowded. Intensive day and night work centered on these construction works at Matarbari Power Plant in Maheshkhali Upazila has already radically changed the landscape of this coastal region.

Many in the private sector, including government policy makers, hope that the island in the south of the country will change as it changes its own economy. On the way there, you can see from a distance all the huge cranes standing with their heads up. Thousands of local and foreign workers are working on this huge construction project with cranes and various heavy equipments.

The government's power department is building a 1,200-megawatt coal based power plant with two units of 600 megawatts each at a cost of about BDT 36,000 crore. Work is also underway to build a deep-sea port for coal imports. Initially, the port was for Matarbari power plants, but according to the plan, it is going to be the first deep sea port in the country. Besides, Matarbari will also be developed as a hub for power and industrial production and fuel import. Several government ministries will implement around 68 numbers of projects there step by step.

In addition to terminals for power generation and gas imports, projects for construction of special economic zones and container terminals have been undertaken. State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid Bipu told, “A big energy security zone is being built around Matarbari in Bangladesh. Matarbari is going to play an important role in the positive change of the economy of Bangladesh.” He said $ 10 billion would be invested in various projects in Matarbari, adding that it would increase employment in the country. With the increase in industrial production, there will be an increase in GDP.

To protect the entire project area, including the Matarbari power plant, from natural disasters, thousands of bighas of land have been filled with sand and soil and raised a few meters above the sea level. In addition to the power plant, thousands of local and foreign workers are spending their time in the construction work including the jetty. Abul Kalam Azad, director of the Matarbari coal power plant project, said "About 56 percent of the project work has been completed. I hope that the first unit of the power plant will come into production in January 2024 and the second unit in July. Now the work of the power plant is going on. Everything needed for the power plant including boilers, turbines, chimneys is in progress. Dams have been built all around.” He said the work of the 14.3 km long naval channel, which is 18 and a half meters deep, has already been completed for the deep sea port. However, the naval channel has been widened from 350 meters to 250 meters. The rest is ongoing.

The Bangladesh government, in collaboration with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), took initiative to set up the power plant on 1,414 acres of land in Matarbari and Dhalghata Union of Maheshkhali. Work started in 2018 beyond the planning stage. All parties, including government policy makers, have long spoken of the need for a deep-sea port in Bangladesh for the growing import-export trade. Although the present government has given priority to the construction of a deep sea port at Sonadia in Maheshkhali, no progress has been made so far.

In such a context, the government initially mentioned a port for the coal-based Matarbari power plant, but later it turned into a commercial port. When the construction work of this port is completed, ships with a capacity of 80 thousand MT will be able to dock in this port with a channel of 59 feet depth. A press release from Toshiba Corporation of Japan, one of Matarbari power plant contractors for the project, said earlier that the deep-sea port to be built with Japan's state-of-the-art Matarbari power plant would be similar to Japan's Kashima port.

Two jetties will now be used for coal power plants at this deep sea port. In addition, a dozen more jetties will be used for other commercial purposes. Project Director said, “Two jetties are already ready, one for coal, the other for oil. Once the channel is ready, the shipping ministry will build six jetties first and six more later."

In August 2015, the government approved a project worth Tk 36,000 crore to build a coal power plant at Matarbari. According to the working paper of the project approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council, ECNEC, JICA will provide Rs 29,000 crore for the Matarbari power plant project. Then, on 27 July, 2017, the government's Coal Power Generation Company signed an agreement with the Japanese consortium Sumitomo Corporation, Toshiba Corporation and IHI Corporation to build a 1,200-megawatt power plant and deep-sea port there.