The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved more than $357m in financing for the development of two power lines in Bangladesh.
Image: A power transmission line. Photo: courtesy of Asian Development Bank.
The investments include: ADB loan of $350m, a $7m grant from the Japan Fund for the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JFJCM) and a $500,000 grant from the Republic of Korea e-Asia and Knowledge Partnership Fund (EAKPF).
The grant from JFJCM will be used to partially finance the new high-technology energy efficient conductors.
ADB said that its assistance package will support the Bangladesh’s national target of electricity for all by 2021.
ADB senior energy specialist Aiming Zhou said: “Bangladesh has been experiencing impressive economic growth over the last decade, but to maintain and even accelerate this, more investments are needed for the power transmission network to meet growing electricity demand.
“In support of this, the ADB project will make the power transmission system more efficient, reliable, and environmentally friendly.”
The funding will be used for the Southwest Transmission Grid Expansion Project, which aims to provide more efficient power transfer to the load centers of the southern and western zones.
The project involves development of a 126km-long 230kV transmission line from Barisal to Faridpur; and a 104km-long 400kV transmission line from Bogra to Rohanpur, as well as substations, transformers, and associated extensions and connections.
The new transmission lines feature a new type of high temperature conductor which allows more power transfer at lower energy losses.
The conductors are designed to provide less resistance to power flow, higher power transferring capacity, and operate more reliably in tropical weather.
Additionally, the project will support climate change mitigation through the use of new conductors, which reduce CO2 emissions compared to conventional transmission conductors.
“This climate change mitigation accounts for $93 million of the investment, comprising $86 million from the ADB loan and $7 million from the JFJCM grant,” ADB said in a statement.
The $532m project, which is planned to be completed at the end of June 2023, will receive $174.5m funding from the government.