Tuesday 2 June 2015

$75m to boost Bangladesh’s energy sector

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is investing $75 milllion (£47.25m) to build a gas-fired power plant in Bangladesh.

Summit Bibiyana II Power Company Limited will use the cash to design, build and operate the plant located in northern Dhaka.

It is expected to be completed in October this year and generate around 2,500GWh per year.

The ADB hopes the project will help address power shortages in the country.

Due to frequent outages many industrial and businesses depend on inefficient and expensive alternatives of generating electricity such as burning diesel or oil, it added.

Hayato Hoshi, senior investment specialist with ADB’s Private Sector Operations Department said: “The project will benefit households, business and industry by improving access to electricity.

"It will also help to further promote private sector investment in Bangladesh’s energy sector where few major independent power producers of this size have materialised in the last decade.”

The Government of Bangladesh is developing a plan to produce 12,000MW of additional power capacity within the next five years as well as diversify its fuel sources and boost renewable energy.