Rural Power Company Limited (RPCL) is going to set up a 100 megawatt (MW) solar power plant at Madarganj of Jamalpur district, a top official said.
The power plant will be specially designed to prevent land wastage. There will be opportunities to produce vegetables and different types of crops under the solar PV (Photovoltaic) module, which will help farmers and climate protection.
Such power plants in the region will also greatly relieve the existing erratic power disruption problem and also fulfill the rising demand for electricity in greater Mymensingh.
Md Salim Bhuiyan, Executive Director (Engineering) told Bangladesh Post, “Currently the evaluation work is underway to appoint a consultant for the project. Hopefully, it will be finalized next February and then we will select an EPC (Engineering, procurement and construction) contractor by next June.”
“Hopefully, the power plant will start its commercial operation by 2024. Once the environment-friendly power plant is completed, people will get reliable and uninterrupted electricity along with cultivation of crops that will help to enhance socio-economic development in rural areas,” he added.
The RPCL official said that the DPP of the project was approved by ECNEC (Executive Committee of the National Economic Council) on August 10 last. Some 325.65 acres of land have already been acquired after the project's location clearance from the Department of Environment for the power plant.
The estimated cost of the power plant is around taka 1511 crore. Out of the total cost, nearly 1115 crore will come from India's Line of Credit (LoC-III). RPCL will invest taka 76 crore and the rest will be provided by the government.
RPCL officials said that currently, the total electricity demand in six districts of greater Mymensingh region is more than 600 MW, which is increasing gradually. However, there is a production shortage of around 150 to 200MW of electricity, which is being supplied from other power plants to the region.
RPCL is going to set up a 420 megawatt (MW) power plant at Shambhuganj of Mymensingh district. The main construction work is expected to start early next year, which will subsequently start power generation by 2024.
In addition, RPCL plans to create a power hub to generate around 2100 megawatts of electricity for Mymensingh regional development by 2031.
