Govt seeks 85pc rise in power transmission project cost
The government will seek approval for the first revision of the Aminbazar-Maowa-Mongla Transmission Line Project today since it increases the cost by 85 per cent and extends the deadline by half a year.
The planning commission is going to table the project at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council. Due to the revision, the expenditure would rise to Tk 2,505.37 crore from the initial Tk 1,356.59 crore.
Of the full total cost, Tk 897.32 crore should come from the federal government and the rest Tk 1,270.69 crore from Asian Development Bank as project loans.
The cost of the project is set to go up as the route of the under-construction Aminbazar-Maowa-Mongla 400-kV line has changed. Now, power would be transmitted from Mongla to Aminbazar via Gopalganj sub-station, in line with the proposal of the planning ministry.
The project would transmit power from the Rooppur nuclear power plant in Pabna and coal-based power plants in Khulna and Payra of Patuakhali and offer electricity to Dhaka and neighbouring areas through the Gopalganj sub-station.
An official of the planning ministry said rather than setting up separate lines to transmit power to be produced at the coal-based power plants in Payra and Khulna and the nuclear power plant in Rooppur, a provision has been designed to construct high-capacity power lines to provide electricity through the substation in Gopalganj.
In this context, the look commission has recommended the revised proposal.
In order to transmit power from the plants, the revised development project plans to use higher capacity and expensive ACCC (Aluminum Conductor Composite Core) cables rather than ACSR (Aluminum Conductor Steel Reinforced) cables as proposed in the initial plan. This might raise the price tag on the electrical accessory component of the project by Tk 658.65 crore to Tk 1,126.69 crore.
The length of the route has expanded as well. The project implementing agency, the energy Grid Company of Bangladesh, would need to use 209 towers of higher elevation on the path to help the transmission line make it overthe approach road of the Padma Bridge, railways and flyovers. This might raise the cost by Tk 94.86 crore.
The expenditure against customs duties would increase to Tk 219.71 crore from Tk 142.52 crore and the expenses for income taxes and value-added taxes would rise to Tk 155.52 crore from Tk 115.33 crore.
The duration of the project has been extended by half a year to December 2021.
The federal government has allocated Tk 560 crore from the twelve-monthly development programme in today's fiscal year. Of the sum, Tk 250 crore would result from the state coffer and the rest as project assistance.
The first unit of the 1,320-MW plant in Payra went into production in January. The 1,320MW Rampal project in Bagerhat is scheduled to get started on producing power from next year, as the deadline of the two 2,400-MW Rooppur plant is December 2025.
