Located in the north-western district of Sylhet, the power plant has an initial power production capacity of up to 240MW and will eventually produce another 130MW upon completion in September, reported Reuters.
The $310m combined cycle power plant will use 50 million cubic feet of natural gas per day from the Bibiyana gas field, which is owned by Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corp, to produce and supply power to the country’s national grid
The current power production capacity of Bangladesh is estimated at 7,000MW, which is less than its demand of 10,000MW.
Summit Group chairman and unit managing director Muhammad Aziz Khan said that the project has been financed in parts by International Finance, a commercial arm of the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank.
The 15-year loans of $70m each are charged an interest rate of 4.65%.
Aziz Khan said: "The remaining $100m is equity, of which Summit has provided 80% and the rest 20% comes from General Electric."
According to the news agency, the project will raise Summit’s power unit’s electricity output to nearly 1,200MW, while taking the group’s total investment in the power sector to $1.2bn.
