First unit of China-funded Bangladesh's mega power plant goes into operation successfully

DHAKA, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- The first unit of a mega Bangladeshi electricity plant being built in collaboration with Chinese firms has gone into operation successfully.

The first unit of the plant injected 660 MW electricity to the national grid Monday afternoon, Mir Mohammad Aslam Uddin, the spokesman of Bangladesh's Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, told journalists.

The 1,320 MW Payra coal-fired power plant, located in Patuakhali district, some 204 km south of capital Dhaka, is a joint venture funded by the North-West Power Generation Company Bangladesh Limited and China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation.

Once fully completed, the power plant will be operated by Bangladesh-China Power Company Limited, the joint venture of the Bangladeshi and Chinese companies.

Bangladeshi State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid had earlier said with the generation of 660 MW in the first unit of the plant, the country's power generation capacity will stand at 23,222 MW.

According to the officials, Chinese and Bangladeshi workers have been working around the clock to make the second unit of the power plant fully operational by June 2020.