The cabinet committee on national purchase at a meeting on Wednesday approved the construction of a 55 megawatt capacity wind power plant at Mongla in Bagerhat.
Chaired by law minister Anisul Huq, in absence of finance minister Mustafa Kamal, the online meeting approved a proposal by the power division to award the contract to a consortium of Envision Energy (Jiangsu) Co. Ltd., China, SQ Trading and Engineering, Bangladesh and Envision Renewable Energy Bangladesh Limited, Hong Kong.
Additional secretary Abu Saleh Mostafa Kamal of the cabinet division told reporters that Bangladesh Power Development Board would purchase one kilowatt hour energy at Tk 10.56 from the plant.
An estimated Tk 2,035.12 crore will be needed to purchase power from the plant for 20 years, he said.
A power division official said that the approval was a major step to set up the first major wind based power plant in the country aspiring to produce 10 per cent of the total power consumption.
In 2019, the government had sought interest from international companies to set up some wind power plants at Mongla, Inani in Cobx’Bazar and Kachua in Chandpur.
Envision Energy showed interest to set up plants at Mongla and Inani.
No interest was shown to Kachua in Chandpur by any company, said power division officials.
To tap potential of the wind power, the government sought interest from international companies in 2012 to set up a 100MW power plant.
But the initiative faltered later.
The government, however, awarded a contract to an Indian consortium to set up a 30-MW wind power plant in Sonagazi, Feni.
Abu Saleh said the cabinet committee did not give approval to the 50MW solar based power plant at Netrokona to be established by a private company.
He said the committee also did not entertain another power division proposal for the renewal of a contract of the 53MW gasbased rental power plant run by United Energy Ltd, formerly known as United Ashuganj Power Ltd.
The committee asked the power division to submit the proposal with furnishing necessary information.
Earlier, a meeting of the cabinet committee on economic affairs, also presided over by the law minister, reviewed the lone proposal of turning Rampura-Banasree-Demra road into a six-lane road.
The proposal was sent back to the ministry of road transport and bridges for lack of adequate information, said Abu Saleh.
