Payra thermal power plant begins trial production

The country's largest-ever Payra 1320-Megawatt Thermal Power Plant has begun electricity production on an experimental basis.

Helal Shah Abdul Mawla, project director of the power plant, said the plant was synchronised with the national grid at 11am on Monday.

"The plant is now supplying 100MW power to the national grid. During the testing period, the plant's power generation will increase gradually. We have a target to produce maximum 600MW power by January 27," he added.

After the trial production, necessary preparations will be taken to go into the commercial production, Helal Shah further said.

According to sources, the Payra thermal power plant will require 6,000 tonnes of coal per day to keep the first unit running in full force. The country has been importing the fuel from Indonesia.

Construction of the coal-fired power plant started on March 30, 2016 at Kalapara in Patuakhali. Bangladesh-China Power Company Limited, a joint venture between Bangladesh's Northwestern Power Generation Company and China's state-owned CMC, has been implementing the project.

The power station was earlier scheduled for production in December 2018. But it lagged behind in following the schedule as the construction of seaports and power transmission lines for importing fuel was delayed.

As a result, the plant was rescheduled for August 27, 2019 to go into operation. But it finally came into production four more months later.