File photo: Moneycontrol
Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the government have signed agreements for $350 million in loan and $7.5 million in grant for a project to develop two power lines in support of Bangladesh’s national target of electricity for all by 2021.
Kazi Shofiqul Azam, Secretary, Economic Relations Division (ERD), and Manmohan Parkash, Country Director, ADB, signed the agreements on behalf of Bangladesh and ADB, respectively, at a ceremony in Dhaka on Monday.
In addition to a $350 million ADB loan, the assistances comprise a $7 million grant from the Japan Fund for the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JFJCM), which will finance new high-technology energy efficient conductors.
Another $500,000 grant from the Republic of Korea e-Asia and Knowledge Partnership Fund (EAKPF) will promote socially inclusive growth with gender equality.
“Bangladesh’s power sector has rapidly grown in recent years, but more investments are needed to meet the rising electricity demand in a fast-growing economy,” said Country Director Manmohan Parkash.
He also said the project will promote business expansion, and create employment opportunities for local communities, including poor and socially disadvantaged people in southern and western zones of Bangladesh.
The Southwest Transmission Grid Expansion Project builds on ADB’s previous work in the Bangladesh power sector, including the recently approved Rupsha 800 megawatt Combine Cycle Power Plant in Khulna, to address deficiencies in the transmission system through providing more efficient power transfer to the load centers of the southern and western zones.
The project will develop a 126 kilometer (km)-long 230 kilovolt (kV) transmission line from Barisal to Faridpur; and a 104 km-long 400 kV transmission line from Bogra to Rohanpur, along with substations, transformers, and associated extensions and connections.
The new transmission lines will introduce to Bangladesh a new type of high temperature conductor to allow more power transfer at lower energy losses.
These have less resistance to power flow, higher power transferring capacity, and operate more reliably in tropical weather. In addition, the use of these conductors also helps to minimize right-of-way requirements.
The project is also contributing to climate change mitigation, since the new conductors reduce carbon dioxide emissions compared to conventional transmission conductors that are used in Bangladesh.
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.
Under the EAKPF grant, the project will enhance capacity, particularly emphasizing inclusive development and gender equality, through a university program relevant to the energy sector, supporting 50 university students, of which at least 40 per cent are women; and 30 staff from Power Grid Company of Bangladesh Limited, of which at least 30 per cent are women.
The project is due for completion in June 2023.
BBN/SSR/AD