Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Bangladesh cancels 10 coal-fired power plants

Bangladesh cancels 10 coal-fired power plants

Content image - Phnom Penh Post
Labourers unload coal from a cargo ship in Gabtoli on the outskirts of Bangladeshi capital Dhaka. AFP

Bangladesh cancels 10 coal-fired power plants

Bangladesh announced on June 27 that it has scrapped at least 10 major coal-fired power plants as it seeks to scale up its power generation from renewable energy sources.

Nasrul Hamid, the state minister for power and energy, said the decision was taken in light of technological changes and as dozens of countries halt new coal-fired power projects due to their impact on the environment.

“By 2041, there is a plan to generate 40 per cent of power from renewable energy,” the ministry of energy and power said.

The minister said Dhaka would also import hydropower from Nepal and Bhutan.

The scrapped power plants would have accounted for 8,451MW of power and included ambitious multi-billion dollar projects unveiled by the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina since she took office in January 2009.

The minister said they included a massive 1,320MW plant on the ecologically fragile Maheshkhali island and a 1,200MW project set to be constructed by a Bangladeshi-Japanese joint venture.

Most of the plants were set to be built in Bangladesh’s coastal region, home to 20 million people.

The announcement is seen as a victory for green activists who have staged a series of protests against the coal-fired plants, saying they would cause irreparable damage to the country’s fragile ecology.

Sharif Jamil, secretary of Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon, the country’s main environmental group, said they were happy with the announcement.

“It is a very positive step. We thank the government for the bold and courageous step,” Jamil told AFP.

But he added that he would like to see a major coal-fired power plant near the world’s largest mangrove forest also ditched.

The controversial 1,320MW power plant is being built at the southern coastal town of Rampal near the Sundarbans, a forest straddling Bangladesh and India that is home to the endangered Bengal tiger.

The UN culture and science agency said in 2016 there was a high chance that pollution from the $1.7 billion plant would “irreversibly damage” the Sundarbans.

The forest provides a defence against storm surges and cyclones that have killed thousands of people in impoverished coastal villages and islands in recent years, and it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.

The Rampal plant would be powered each year by nearly five million tonnes of coal transported by boat along fragile waterways.

Jamil also said the prime minister, as the head of a forum for nations vulnerable to climate change, must also “develop a roadmap to come out of coal fully”.

MOST VIEWED

  • Joy as Koh Ker Temple registered by UNESCO

    Cambodia's Koh Ker Temple archaeological site has been officially added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List, during the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on September 17. The ancient temple, also known as Lingapura or Chok Gargyar, is located in

  • Ream base allegations must end, urges official

    A senior government official urges an end to the allegations and suspicions surrounding the development of Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base, now that Prime Minister Hun Manet has addressed the issue on the floor of the 78th UN General Assembly (UNGA 78). Jean-Francois Tain, a geopolitical

  • Cambodia set to celebrate Koh Ker UNESCO listing

    To celebrate the inscription of the Koh Ker archaeological site on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, the Ministry of Cults and Religion has appealed to pagodas and places of worship to celebrate the achievement by ringing bells, shaking rattles and banging gongs on September 20. Venerable

  • CP denied registration documents by ministry

    The Ministry of Interior will not reissue registration documents to the Candlelight Party (CP). Following a September 21 meeting between ministry secretary of state Bun Honn and CP representatives, the ministry cited the fact that there is no relevant law which would authorise it to do

  • Cambodian diaspora laud Manet’s UN Assembly visit

    Members of the Cambodian diaspora are rallying in support of Prime Minister Hun Manet’s forthcoming visit to the 78th UN General Assembly (UNGA 78) in the US’ New York City this week. Their move is an apparent response to a recent call by self-exiled former

  • PM to open new Siem Reap int’l airport December 1

    Prime Minister Hun Manet and Chinese leaders would jointly participate in the official opening of the new Chinese-invested Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport on December 1. The airport symbolises a new page in the history of Cambodian aviation, which will be able to welcome long-distance flights to