BWGED urges govt to scrap lease for coal-based power plant

Bangladesh Working Group on Ecology and Development (BWGED) yesterday urged the interim government to cancel the land lease for the proposed coal-based 635MW Matarbari Power Plant.
The group argued that the project contradicts Bangladesh’s international commitments, such as the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) under the Paris Agreement, which aims to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050.
In letters sent to the ministries of land, power, and environment, as well as the Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Limited, BWGED—a coalition of non-state organisations and environmental activists— spelled their concerns.
The lease was initially signed in 2016, with power production slated for 2020. However, project timelines were repeatedly extended, and activities only resumed last December after a seven-year suspension.
In 2022, Bangladesh Bank relaxed financial rules to allow three state-run banks to provide loans totaling Tk 10,579 crore to support the plant, now rescheduled to begin operations in 2030.
This change occurred under then-governor Abdur Rouf Talukder, who eased the Bank Company Act’s section 26-kha (1), which limits a bank’s exposure to a single borrower.
Orion Group, responsible for the project, initially proposed a 635MW coal plant in Gozaria, Munshiganj, before relocating the project to its current location in Maheshkhali, Cox’s Bazar, with an expected 25-year electricity supply.