The government signed a $177 million additional financing agreement with International Development Association (IDA) of World Bank (WB) to complete the ongoing construction of a 335-megawatt combined cycle power plant at Siddhirganj, near Dhaka.
The agreement was signed at NEC-2, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the capital yesterday. Additional secretary of Economic Relations Division (ERD) Kazi Shofiqul Azam and acting country director of WB Iffath Sharif signed the agreement on behalf of the Government of Bangladesh and the World Bank respectively.  The power plant will account for 6 per cent of the total electricity delivered to the national grid. IDA is the WB’s concessional arm that helps the world’s poorest countries.
The additional financing to the Siddhirganj Power Project will help increase clean, reliable and low-cost electricity supply in Bangladesh. In 2008, the WB provided $350 million to construct a 300 MW gas turbine power plant in Siddhirganj. “In the last few years, the country has increased its power generation capacity significantly. But, at the same time, the demand for electricity has gone up," said Kazi Shofiqul Azam. “The Project will increase uninterrupted and low-cost power supply during the peak demand period, and thus help spur economic activities and reduce the cost of doing business in Bangladesh.” In the face of increasing power demand and gas shortages, the government decided to convert the peaking power plant to an energy-efficient 335 megawatt combined cycle power plant. The additional financing will fill the financing gap for constructing the power plant. “This additional financing will add much-needed new power generation capacity for Bangladesh. This financing will contribute to the WB’s current support to the energy sector, raising it to over $1.5 billion,” said Iffath Sharif.
The combined cycle technology allows the plant to produce higher energy with lower gas consumption. This cleaner technology reduces carbon emission. The plant will start commercial operation in 2016.