To fuel economic zones, the government is planning to build more power plants in Feni.

More land in Sonagazi upazila of Feni will be acquired by the government to construct four combined cycle power plants, which will satisfy the growing energy needs of Chattogram's under-construction economic zones, which include Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar.

 

Officials from the implementing organization, the Electricity Generation Company of Bangladesh (EGCB), stated that on 386.44 acres of land, which will cost Tk21.19 crore to acquire, a solar and wind power plant will also be built.  

The capacity of the solar and wind power plants will be 100 MW and 24 MW, respectively, while each combined cycle power plant will have a capacity of 600 MW.

At a cost of Tk746.76 crore, a 75MW solar-powered power plant is currently being built in Sonagazi. This project is receiving a Tk621 crore loan from the World Bank.

On 30,000 acres of land in the Sonagazi upazila of Feni, Mirsrai and Sitakunda upazilas of Chattogram, and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar (BSMSN) upazila of Mirsrai, work is underway to establish the largest economic zone in the country.

The primary goal of the new power plants' design is to provide Shilpa Nagar with electricity.

Md Nazmul Alam, executive director at the EGCB, said the state-run company has already acquired 1,000 acres of land in Sonagazi where the 75MW solar power plant is under construction. 

"Now a new 100MW solar power plant will be established with a Singapore-based company, Hero Asia Singapore," he mentioned.

Once the land is acquired, construction work will start on the solar power plant and also a 24MW wind power plant, Nazmul Alam said. 

He noted that it will take time to build the combined cycle power plants because they will be built in stages according to the priority of the government. 

Officials of the EGCB said a wind power project was taken up earlier in Sonagazi but was unsuccessful. To ensure success this time, they are actively pursuing proper project implementation based on a comprehensive survey.

The Bangladesh Power Development Board constructed a 0.9MW wind-based power plant near the dam along the River Muhuri in Sonagazi in 2005. Three years later, a 1MW wind power plant was constructed in Kutubdia, Cox's Bazar. 

However, both the plants are now inoperative due to a lack of supervision and interest of the power development board.

Meanwhile, as part of the land acquisition project approval process, a project evaluation committee meeting will be held at the Planning Commission on Sunday.

As per the land acquisition proposal, the target of land acquisition will be achieved by next year.