Banshkhali power station (S Alam)

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Banshkhali power station (S Alam) is an operating power station of at least 1320-megawatts (MW) in Banshkhali, Chittagong, Bangladesh. It is also known as Banskhali S. Alam power station, Chattogram power station, SS Power I, Chittagong power station (S Alam), Alam Banshkhali power station.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Banshkhali power station (S Alam)	Banshkhali, Chittagong, Chittagong, Bangladesh	21.970844, 91.888932 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the power station.

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Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):

• Unit 1: 21.970844, 91.888932
• Unit 2: 21.979067, 91.888938

Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name	Status	Fuel(s)	Capacity (MW)	Technology	Start year
Unit 1	operating	coal: unknown	660	supercritical	2023
Unit 2	operating	coal: unknown	660	supercritical	2023

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name	Owner	Parent
Unit 1	SEPCOIII Electric Power Construction Co Ltd [20%]; STG Development Group [10%]; S. Alam Cold Rolled Steels Ltd [70%]	S. Alam Cold Rolled Steels Ltd [70.0%]; Power Construction Corporation of China Ltd [20.0%]; STG Development Group [10.0%]
Unit 2	SEPCOIII Electric Power Construction Co Ltd [20%]; STG Development Group [10%]; S. Alam Cold Rolled Steels Ltd [70%]	S. Alam Cold Rolled Steels Ltd [70.0%]; Power Construction Corporation of China Ltd [20.0%]; STG Development Group [10.0%]

Project-level coal details

• Coal source(s): imported

Background

In December 2013, S. Alam Group of Bangladesh signed an agreement in Dhaka with China's SEPCOIII Electric Power Construction Corporation to build a 1,320 MW coal plant in Chittagong. The cost of the project was estimated at $1.8 billion. The Daily Star reported, "Officials said the new company would sign a separate agreement with state-run Power Development Board, which will mandate the joint venture to complete the construction work in 45 months." It is not clear from the report whether the project would be a formal joint venture involving the Bangladesh Power Development Board, or whether the "joint venture" referred to the agreement signed between S Alam Group and SEPCOIII.

On February 16, 2016, the government of Bangladesh approved the deal and set a price to purchase electricity from the group at a rate of BDT 6.61 per unit. The project was reported to be 2 x 612 MW. The group started to acquire 600 acres of land for this plant. According to Bangladesh's The Daily Star: "Surprisingly, all these steps were taken without any Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and public consultation. There was no environmental clearance." The Bangladesh Post reports the "Power Division approved the project in October 2013."

Missing and inadequate EIA

In April 2016, S Alam group was asked to revise its environmental impact assessment report (EIA) for the project.

In June 2021, the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), and Bangladesh Working Group on External Debt (BWGED) published a report titled "Assessment of the Banskhali S. Alam coal power (SS Power I) project EIA." The reported summarized that the EIA for unit 1 contained errors and omissions that would have been caught by the environmental regulator if appropriate oversight was in place.

Project delays and fines

In March 2018, it was reported that "The work of this plant was supposed to be completed in 2019, but the construction work has not started yet." According to S Alam Group, site development has begun and financial close was expected soon.

In November 2018, the Bangladesh Power Division warned S Alam Group of annulling the plant's contracts over the delay in financial close. The company was given until December 31, 2018 to complete financial closing of its thermal power plant project.

In December 2018, PowerChina said prep work was underway on the project.

The plant was listed in Bangladesh's 2016 Master Plan "Revisited", an updated version of the country's energy plan released in November 2018. It is proposed for commissioning in December 2020, although the timeline seems unlikely given the lack of progress through 2018.

Planet satellite photos through September 22, 2019 show construction was underway.

Photos from the plant site up to December 2019 show ongoing construction progress.

In July 2020, S. Alam Group was fined Tk 2 billion (approximately US$23.5 million) for failing to complete the Banshkhali power station on schedule. At the time, the company and its partners had only managed to complete about 25% of the project. The group has now got an extension to complete the project by 2022, insiders said.

Planet imagery from 2019 to December 2021, in January 2022, in January 2023 showed considerable progress at the site.

Projected operation

In June 2022, the plant was expected to go into production by the end of 2022 according to Chinese ambassador to Bangladesh, Li Jiming. He claimed that 95% of the project's construction was complete. Md Faizur Rahman, site project manager of the power plant, put the progress on the engineering side at 99.89%, procurement progress at 98.76%, and construction progress at 92.22%. The plant was expected to run on imported coal, most of which to be bought from Indonesia, or Australia as needed. A large jetty was built on the adjacent beach to unload coal.

As of January 2023, it appeared that the plant was not operational yet and one source reported that Unit 1 would now go into operation in May 2023.

On May 24, 2023, Unit 1 of the power station had started operating on a "trial basis." The two units at the station were reportedly 660 MW each. Commissioning of Unit 2 was ongoing, and officials at the power station were expecting the plant to be operating at maximum capacity in June 2023.

According to reporting from June 2023, Unit 1 had supplied approximately 400 MW of electricity to the national grid during its trial run, but the power plant had shut down as of June 8, 2023, due to a coal shortage (which the power plant authority later disputed, claiming they had an "uninterrupted supply of coal"). With a coal shipment expected to arrive by June 18, 2023, government officials stated that the country's power supply would be normal within two weeks.

According to the country's Daily Generation Archive for early July 2023, the plant (SS Power Unit-1) was still listed as "on test." In late June 2023, its "Actual Peak Generation" for at least one evening was 236 MW.

Units begin commercial operation

In late September 2023, the power station reportedly began commercial operation, with Unit 1 connected to the national grid and allegedly operating at full capacity.

In October 2023, Unit 2 reportedly started commercial operation, initiating the power station's 25-year contract with the government.

As of February 2024, the power station was reportedly operating at a limited capacity due to grid capacity challenges.

Reporting from November 2024 stated that the power station had been producing at only half of its capacity “for a long time” due to a coal shortage arising from the dollar crisis. Four other coal plants in Bangladesh had also cut electricity generation due to coal shortages, unpaid bills, maintenance, and mechanical problems, leading to widespread power outages.

Opposition and incidents

According to the Daily Star of Bangladesh, the project has been marred by a lack of transparency and irregularities since its inception. Authorities also avoided discussing the full scope of the project's impact: "The local administration had shown a total of only 150 households in the project area, but in reality the area has at least 7,000 households, 70 mosques, graveyards, a technical education institution, around 20 cyclone shelter houses, one high school, eight primary government schools, two Alia Madrassa, five Qawmi Madrassa, five markets, and one government hospital. Hiding the real numbers is a familiar practice to rationalize the project and also to ease the handover of khas (government) land to the private company."

At least ten people have lost their lives in clashes related to the proposal, and at least 10,000 people have been affected by the losses of homesteads and farmland. Reporting as of September 2024 continued to highlight controversies and "irregularities" surrounding the project.

March 2016: Thousands protest plant

On March 23, 2016, 30,000 people gathered demanding the project be shifted elsewhere and their land be returned to them. On April 3, 2016, police arrested seven people from the village, accusing them of obstructing the company's work. In response, on April 4, 2016, locals gathered under the banner of “Boshot Bhita Rokkha Committee” (Committee to Protect Households). Witnesses estimated the the crowd at around 15,000 protesters.

April 2016: Four killed in plant protest

Four people were killed after police opened fire on the protesters. Witnesses said that 100 people were injured. According to local authorities, police claimed that the shootings occurred when protesters attacked them at the "banned" protest. According to the Daily Star, members of a paramilitary group were allegedly paid by the company to break up the event and started firing on the unarmed protesters, with the police eventually joining in the shooting.

The victims included a pair of brothers, according to district police chief Hafiz Akter. In addition to the fatalities, dozens of protests were reported injured, as well as 11 policemen, one of whom was shot in the head. According to Dr. Saiful Islam of Chittagong Medical College Hospital, seven people, including four who were shot by live rounds, were brought to his clinic. According to protest leader Abu Ahmed, "Police opened fire as we brought out a procession against the power plants. They even chased the villagers to their homes."

February 2017: One killed, a dozen injured at Chittagong protest

One person was killed and "about a dozen" were injured at a protest on February 1, 2017 against the S Alam power Chittagong power station. According to Nurul Mostafa, a leader of a citizens group opposing the plant, protesters were chanting slogans when police attacked them.

April 2021: Seven plant workers killed by police

Five workers at the under construction plant were killed by police on April 17, 2021. The workers had been protesting to receive their due wages from the power plant administration, with the situation escalating to clashes with police forces which also left at least 20 other people injured, including local residents.

On April 21, 2021, it was reported that two workers had succumbed to gunshot wounds sustained in police firing during the April 17 clash with police officers, raising the death toll to seven.

June 2022: Explosion

In June 2022, two people were injured in an explosion at the site. Banshkhali Upazila Health Complex Residential Doctor Arman Chowdhury said "it was basically a chemical blast."

September 2024: Deaths during burglary

Two security officers were killed during an alleged burglary attempt at Banshkhali power station.

Financing

Two Chinese firms – SEPCOIII Electric Power and HTG – are financing US$1.75 billion of the the plants' estimated $2.4 billion cost. This is happening via a US$1.739 billion loan from the ExIm Bank of China.

Cancellation risk

In August 2020, signalling a potential pivot in Bangladesh away from coal power towards increased reliance on gas-based power from imported liquified natural gas (LNG), Bangladesh’s minister of power, energy and mineral resources, Nasrul Hamid stated that the government is planning to review an array of planned coal plants with the exception of three which are in construction and nearing completion: the Rampal power station, the Matarbari power station and the Payra power station. According to Minister Hamid, "We are reviewing how we can move from coal-based power plants." Banshkhali power station is, therefore, likely to be reviewed by the government which may cause delays to the project or even cancellation.

On November 19, 2020, The Daily Star reported that Bangladesh's power, energy and mineral resources ministry had finalized an energy plan that cancelled all coal plants except five under construction, including Units 1 and 2 of Banshkhali. The ministry was reported to be sending the plan to the Prime Minister's Office for review.

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of coal-fired power stations, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.