by William Gomes

The new facility will be located in Rooppur, 210 kilometres northwest of the capital. The 1,000-megawatt plant will cost US$ 2 billion and will start up in 2014. Existing power plants have become obsolete, unable to cope with chronic shortages, forcing the government to choose nuclear power.

Dhaka (AsiaNews) – The Government of Bangladesh has signed a deal with Russia to build a 1,000-megawatt nuclear power plant, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina press secretary Abul Kalam Azad announced. At a recent meeting chaired by the prime minister, cabinet gave the green light to the new facility, which will be built at Rooppur, some 210 kilometres northwest of the capital of Dhaka. The two countries had reached an initial agreement on the project last year. Now they have worked out its terms and conditions.

An official with the Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry said that the plant will cost up to US$ 2 billion and should generate electricity by 2014.

Growing concern over power shortages has led Bangladesh to consider nuclear energy as natural gas reserves are fast depleting and most coalfields remain unexploited. More importantly, people are increasingly taking to the streets to demand electrical power, damaging public property.

At present, Bangladesh has about 60 power stations, mostly old gas- and coal-powered plants. With a population of 150 million, the country has to put up with daily power shortfalls of 2,000 megawatts.

The situation is indeed very critical, especially because peak-hour demand averages about 5,500 megawatts. Last year, it even reached 6,000 MW, whilst the highest output was 4,296 MW in September 2009.

A top official at the state-owned Power Development Board (PDB) told AsiaNews that this year demand could go as high as 6,600 MW with the highest output peaking at 4,600 MW in the summer. This means that the gap between demand and supply will be no less than 2,000 MW.

Hence, Bangladeshis have welcomed the deal to build a 1,000-megawatt nuclear plant for it will help them face the current energy crisis and improve their quality of life.

• bangladesh
• russia
• islam
• economy
• agreement
• nuclear
• reactor
• safety
• security