Maheshkhali power station (BPDB/RPCL)

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Maheshkhali power station (BPDB/RPCL) is a cancelled power station in Maheshkhali, Cox's Bazar, Chittagong, Bangladesh. It is also known as BR Powergen power station, Moheskhali, Moheshkhali power station.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Maheshkhali power station (BPDB/RPCL)	Maheshkhali, Cox's Bazar, Chittagong, Bangladesh	21.623126, 91.903689 (approximate)

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

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Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name	Status	Fuel(s)	Capacity (MW)	Technology	Start year
Unit 1	cancelled	coal: unknown	660	ultra-supercritical	2030 (planned)
Unit 2	cancelled	coal: unknown	660	ultra-supercritical	2030 (planned)

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name	Owner	Parent
Unit 1	B-R Powergen Ltd [100%]	Bangladesh Power Development Board [50.0%]; Rural Power Co Ltd [50.0%]
Unit 2	B-R Powergen Ltd [100%]	Bangladesh Power Development Board [50.0%]; Rural Power Co Ltd [50.0%]

Project-level coal details

• Coal source(s): imported

Background

BR Powergen Ltd. (BRPL) is a Government Power Generation Company. 50% of the total shares of BRPL are owned by Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and the remaining 50% are owned by Rural Power Company Limited (RPCL).

Other coal projects proposed in Maheshkhali have included the:

• Maheshkhali power station (BPDB/TNB) (Malaysian Consortium)
• Maheshkhali power station (Huadian)
• Maheshkhali power station (KEPCO)
• Maheshkhali power station (PowerChina) (SEPCO)
• CPGCBL-Sumitomo power station
• Matarbari Kohelia power station
• Matarbari power station

November 2018 plan

Based on the Bangladesh Master Plan "Revisited", released in November 2018, a power station named "Moheshkhali 2x660 MW Coal Fired Thermal Power Plan" was planned by BR Powergen. It was scheduled for completion by December 2026 under "High Case Studies."

Cancellation risks

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. The Maheshkhali power station would likely be cancelled as a result.

In June 2021, the Bangladesh State Minister for Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources announced the government was officially dropping ten coal plant projects in its master energy plan totalling over 8 GW of power due to delays in implementation. The power station may have been among the ten cancelled coal plants, as two 1,320 MW Maheshkhali coal plants were cancelled.

In October 2021, the Bangladesh Working Group on External Debt (BWGED) and News Founded also wrote that the Government of Bangladesh (GOB) was expected to cancel six additional coal-fired power plants planned to be developed on the Maheshkhali Islands. The government was reportedly planning to convert the six power plants from coal to LNG and renewable energy.

In May 2024, the coal-fired power station was officially superseded by plans for a 160 MW solar plant on the same site. The solar facility would be developed by a joint venture between BPDP and China Huadian Corp.

BR Powergen's Annual reports

The 1,320 MW Maheshkhali power station was listed under "Future Projects Plan" in BR Powergen's 2017-2018 annual report, 2018-2019 annual report, and 2019-2020 annual report.

The power station was removed from BR Powergen's 2020-2021 annual report.

However, it resurfaced in BR Powergen's 2021-2022 annual report. It was still listed as a "Future Power Plant Project," but now included the following note about the project's present situation: "Land Allocation Underway."

According to BR Powergen's 2022-2023 annual report, the project was undergoing pre-feasibility studies.

Power Development Board Monthly reports

Although there was no mention of the project in two consecutive BPDB Annual Reports – 2020-21 and 2021-22 – the project (or a related BPDB proposal) seemed consistently featured in BPDB's Monthly Progress Reports, including in 2023. BPDB was listed as the sole owner.

The Bangladesh Working Group on External Debt (BWGED), a flexible civil society forum of progressive activists and organizations from all over Bangladesh, hosts a webpage with additional details about a Maheshkhali BPDB project: "The power plant is proposed and sponsored by BPDB under a loan from an Export Credit Agency (ECA) but hasn't disclosed the name of any specific ECA [as of] February 2022. The expected COD of the power plant was June 2027 which has been shifted to June 2028. BPDB is prepared to float the second round of bidding to select an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contractor as per the progress report of BPDB (13 February 2022)." The previous commissioning date of the power plant of June 2027 was shifted to June 2028. In the May 2023 Monthly Report, the commissioning date was even further out – June 2030.

The November 2023 BPDB Monthly Report still included the power station as a planned project, but an expected start date was no longer listed. BR Powergen's "Future Projects" webpage, which was reportedly last updated in November 2023, still listed a possible start date of 2030.

Background on Maheshkhali power complex

Maheshkhali power station was likely part of a large multi-plant complex being organized by the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB). In August 2013, Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) announced that it intended to develop a multi-plant power complex at Cox's Bazaar, including both coal-fired plants and combined cycle gas-fired plants. The announcement stated that the BPDB "intends to build 6000 MW Ultra Super Critical Coal Based Thermal Power Plant and 3000 MW LNG Based Combined Cycle Power Plant in different phases at Maheshkhali Upazila in Cox’s Bazar District." The announcement stated that the fuel for the projects would be imported coal and liquified natural gas. Five thousand acres were in the process of acquisition, situated within Amabassaya, Honanok and Panir Chhara mouza of Hoanok Union and Gharibhanga mouza of Kutubjhom union under Maheshkhali upazila, Cox’s Bazar.

In June 2023, the power complex was reportedly planning to replace the proposed coal-fired units with solar-powered generation and more LNG capacity. A June 2023 news article stated that the land already acquired for the Maheshkhali Power Hub project would be used for the LNG and solar plants. The article implied that plans for the Maheshkhali coal-fired units had indeed been halted by the government's official cancellation of 10 coal-fired power plants in 2021.

Additional information is available at Maheshkhali power complex.

Financing

Loan financing with the backing of an Export Credit Agency (ECA) was referred to on the website of the Bangladesh Working Group on External Debt.

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.