By IANS,
Dhaka: Bangladesh Thursday signed a mega deal to produce 1,017 MW of power in the next three to four years.
Three formal deals were concluded with the Summit Power Ltd — for the Bibiyana phase 1 and 2 gas-fired power (341 MW each) projects and Meghnaghat dual fuel 335 MW power projects.
This became possible after seven months of negotiations when the government agreed to the company’s stipulation, as also that of the multilateral agencies supporting the project, that they would only go for the British law for arbitration in case of any dispute.
The law ministry had reservations and the final decision was taken by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, The Daily Star said.
As the contract signing was being delayed, questions were raised whether the local company would be able to finance the projects. Summit repeatedly said that a number of financiers had assured it of around $800 million investment required for the three projects.
Over a 22-year period, the government would purchase Tk 37,000 crore worth of electricity from these three plants — making these the biggest private sector contracts in the country so far.
Summit Power Limited has set up power plants on a ‘build, own and operate’ basis for generation of electricity and to sell power to the Rural Electrification Board (REB) at Savar, Narsingdi and Comilla.