A consortium of three Japanese firms has won an engineering, procurement and construction contract for a port and power plant in Bangladesh.
Kashima Port in Japan, the blueprint for Bangladesh’s new port (Wikimedia Commons/ Onyo)
A coal-fired thermal power plant and a deep sea port modeled on Kashima Port in Japan (pictured) will be built on Matarbari Island in southeastern Bangladesh.
The Japanese team consists of conglomerate Toshiba, trading company Sumitomo and equipment firm IHI.
The power plant will use imported coal as fuel, will have a generation capacity of 1,200MW and will supply 10% of Bangladesh’s electricity.
The deep sea port will be the first in the country and will be built adjacent to the power plant, hoping to invigorate Matarbari’s hinterland.
The $4.55bn (Â¥500bn) project is financed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the firm’s largest single contract.
A Map of Matarbari Region (Sumitomo)
Sumitomo will be responsible for civil work and auxiliary equipment as well as port construction, including dredging works. Toshiba will supply and install the steam turbines and the generators, while IHI will be in charge of providing and installing the boilers.
A press release says "Power shortages have been an issue for Bangladesh as its economy is rapidly growing and correspondingly demand for electric power is expected to rise from the present 9,000MW to as high as 35,000MW in 2030.
"Currently, power generation with domestic natural gas accounts for around 65% of the country’s total generation capacity"
Construction of the projects is scheduled to begin in August 2017 and be completed in July 2024.
