Bangladesh to build 400MW combined cycle plant at $500m

Ashuganj Power Station Company Ltd (APSCL), Bangladesh, is planning to build a 400MW gas-based combined-cycle power plant in Brahmanbaria. The five-year project, running from January 2016 to December 2020, is likely to cost Tk4,000 crore, or roughly $500 million.

The company recently invited international tenders for the project and bids are expected to include the demolition and disposal of existing Unit 3 plant, apart from site preparation, detailed engineering, design, installation and commissioning, on a turnkey basis, of the Ashuganj 400MW power plant project (East), according to APSCL Managing Director AMM Sazzadur Rahman. “We have received a loan from the Asian Development Bank and have applied for a loan from the Islamic Development Bank to implement the project,” Sazzadur said.

Another APSCL official said the company is likely to sign a $220 million credit assistance agreement with the Islamic Development Bank by June for the Ashuganj (East) project.

The loan is expected to help replace the old steam and gas turbine power plants with a more efficient 400MW gas-fired combined cycle power plant at the Ashuganj Power Station complex.

APSCL, a state-owned power production company, is an enterprise of the Power Development Board (PDB) under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources. The company produces around 982MW of electricity and has the capacity to produce 1,127MW through its nine units. It supplies 16% of the total electricity produced in the country.

At the same location, APSCL is installing the 450MW gas-based combined-cycle power plant (South) that is expected to go into commercial operation from June this year and the 450MW combined-cycle power plant (North), which is likely to be commissioned in June 2017.