The first deep water port will be built near matarbari coal-filled plant which is almost complete in Bangladesh. New power plant and port come at crucial point in country’s economic development. From Tokyo, Japan, Journalist Toru Takahashi reported that the Japan-led development of a coastal economic corridor in Bangladesh, which includes a power plant, port and corporate parks, is in full swing as Japanese companies hope to enter the growing market of 170 million people.
A coal-fired power plant on the Bay of Bengal in Matarbari, 350 kilometers south of the capital Dhaka that began construction in 2017 is almost complete. Japanese trading group Sumitomo Corp., Toshiba and IHI have led the construction. The boiler at the plant was ignited for the first time in early June, with power transmission to begin at the end of July. “After trial operations, we will hand over unit 1 to Bangladesh next January and unit 2 in July,” said Shoji Watanabe, project director for Sumitomo.
ODA – Official development assistance loans will cover 70% of the approximately $ 5.7 billion as project cost. The total output of units 1 and 2 is 1.2 gigawatts, enough power to cover 30% of demand in the Dhaka metropolitan area. The development of Matarbari is the centerpiece of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Belt plan, announced in 2014. In a country where much of the land is comprised of river deltas, Matarbari is rare in its suitability for large-scale development. The Matarbari project will enter the next stage with a stable power supply at its core.
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