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BANGLADESH: MINE-MOUTH COAL-FIRED POWER PLANT IN DINAJPUR SIGNED 28th January 2019 GCM Resources plc and Chinese state-owned Power China on Thursday signed a joint venture agreement (JVA) and an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for setting up a 2,000MW mine-mouth coal-fired power plant in Dinajpur district. The contracts were signed at a ceremony at the Radisson Blu Water Garden Hotel in the city. The documents were signed by Md. Badruzzaman and Md. Firoz Zaman on behalf of GCM and Xiong Li Xin and Pan Deng Yu on behalf of POWERCHINA. Officials of the GCM Resources, which conducted a feasibility study for Phulbari coal mine, said the new venture will invest an approximate US$4 billion for the project. They said the proposed project is part of a broader strategy by GCM to generate 6,000MW of low cost electricity for Bangladesh market utilising domestic coal, providing an estimated US$12.5 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI). The power plant will use ultra supercritical technology with its high-energy efficiency which will enable maximum power generation from the coal and provide lower levels of emissions and deliver the lowest cost power. Datuk Michael Tang PJN (Executive Chairman of GCM), Engr. Rashed Mahmud (Managing Director, DIPON Group), Anis Khan (Managing Director, Mutual Trust Bank), Ding Zheng Guo (Chairman, Power China International), Lin Wei Qiang (Chairman, Chinese Chamber of Commerce Bangladesh) and Xu Jiang Long (Vice President, Power China Eurasia) were present.

CHINA LEADS INVESTMENT IN COAL PROJECTS—AND ALSO RENEWABLES 28th January 2019 China continues to finance new coal plants in more than two dozen countries, even as the country has taken the lead in global renewable energy investment, according to a report from a U.S. group of energy analysts. The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) in its report said China is backing more than a quarter of coal plants under development worldwide. The report, “China at a Crossroads: Continued Support for Coal Power Erodes China’s Clean Energy Leadership,” detailed in a Jan. 22 news release from the IEEFA, looks at China’s financing of coal projects. The group says “funding coal plant projects leaves China and the 27 countries reliant on Chinese coal financing increasingly exposed to bad economic outcomes as nations move away from coal.” “The International Energy Agency’s most conservative modeling forecasts declining global coal trade post-2018 for good reason,” said Melissa Brown, energy finance consultant for the IEEFA and one of the report’s co-authors. “Coal power locks importing countries into years of uncertainty about power prices as coal prices gyrate. By contrast, renewables are benefitting from huge technology improvements and have a deflationary impact on power prices.” Brown continued: “Many private global financial leaders, including most multilateral development banks, have come to see thermal coal as a poor investment with growing stranded asset risks. The World Bank, Standard Chartered UK, Generali of Italy, and Nippon Life of Japan have all turned their back on coal power for solid financial reasons. “China is making great progress towards becoming a world leader in renewable clean energy at home, but outdated logic about power system design continues to dominate China’s overseas finance habits. China’s leading financial institutions lag their global peers in formally limiting investment in coal plants in international markets, imposing stranded asset risks on countries that will struggle to adapt as coal power becomes obsolete.” The IEEFA said China’s state-controlled banks and other financial groups have either committed to finance, or have formally offered funding, to about 102 GW of the 399 GW of coal-fired power generation under development outside the country. The group said that investment includes money directed toward rail and port infrastructure for coal plants, along with export coal mines. More than $7 billion of financing is committed to projects in Bangladesh, representing about 14 GW of coal-fired generation capacity. Other countries with significant Chinese investment in coal plants include Vietnam, South Africa, Pakistan, and Indonesia. Christine Shearer, another co-author of the report, said, “These countries and more are instilling both a long-term dependence on volat

https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/editorial/making-use-of-coal-reserves-1548605023 The best news today: Making use of coal reserves Published: January 27, 2019 22:03:43 The relevant state minister's statement, made during an interview with this paper recently, to the effect that the government has a plan to develop the country's unexploited coalmines using the state enterprises concerned would be appreciated, at least, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the start of the development work would bring an end to the stalemate over the fate of coalmines holding a large reserve of quality coal. Secondly, if and when exploited, these mines would feed a number of major coal-fired power plants that are now under different stages of implementation. Otherwise, the government would have to import a substantial volume of coal at a huge cost annually. The fact remains that successive governments did suffer from indecision over the ways and means of exploiting the coalmines, partly for environmental and partly for technical reasons. The country is now extracting coal from only one coalmine at Barapukuria out of five mines discovered so far. The coal mining authority at Barapukuria has been using the conventional underground mining method that disturbs both nature and human settlements far less than the process of open-pit mining. However, the latter remains the most cost-effective and efficient way of coal mining. There is no denying that coalmining is a tricky and sensitive issue for a densely populated country like Bangladesh. No matter whatever method is used for coal extraction, there would be displacement of people and environmental degradation in and around coalmines. However, the extent of damage does depend on the methods employed in coalmining. Undeniably, these particular issues have been holding the government back from taking decisions on extraction of coal reserves from virgin mines. The violent incident involving the Phulbari coalmine in August 2006 and the opposition to open-pit mining coming from the rights activists also worked as a disincentive to a great extent. Thus, the authorities concerned, deliberately, had decided to drag its feet on the issue taking refuge under the so-called process of formulating appropriate coal policy. Now there is an urgent need for bringing about an effective change in government approach to country's coal reserves. The government would need a substantial volume of coal for running its power plants. Its import would cost the state coffer hugely. Besides, spending a huge sum every year on coal import when the country is blessed with huge reserves of quality coal would not make any sense. However the fact is that coal, a variety of fossil fuel, is no more preferred globally. Rather, it is considered one of the major polluters of environment. Many developed countries are now shutting off their coal-fired power plants and switching over to renewable energy sources. Days are not far off

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