State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid on Thursday said that the draft for power purchase agreement (PPA) is under process for nuclear power as the progress of the construction work has risen to more than 85%.
"We hope that per unit price of power will be at Tk 4-5, which is lower than other generated electricity," he disclosed this to the journalists after a meeting with the authorities of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plan (RNPP) at Ishwardi.
He said that the commissioning of Unit-1 of the RNPP project is likely to be delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
As per the schedule, the 1st unit of the 2400MW nuclear power plant was scheduled to be commissioned by December 2023, Nasrul Hamid added.
Nuclear scientist and RNPP Project Director Dr Md Shaukat Akbar was also present at the press briefing.
The project will host two nuclear power units each of 1,200 MW capacities.
Latest generation 3+ Russian VVER 1200 reactor is being used for power generation, which complies with all international safety requirements.
During the site visit at the RNPP, state minister's wife Seema Hamid was accompanied with him.
Nasrul Hamid instructed the power division officials concerned to work with coordinated efforts.
"However, due to the pandemic and Russia-Ukraine conflict, that time frame has been pushed to the middle of 2024 to end the work," the RNPP PD Dr Md Shaukat Akbar told reporters.
The Engineering Division of Russia's Rosatom State Corporation is implementing the Rooppur project as the General Designer and Contractor.
The State Minister said, "Bangladesh is going to nuclear power generation. It's a good and bold step by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina."
He said that the lifetime of the nuclear power plant is at least 60 years and the power price will be stable for 60 years.
Replying to a question, Nasrul Hamid said the Russian side has developed all the necessary training and methodological programs, which in the future will allow the Bangladesh side to independently train its personnel, he said.
He said the construction of the transmission line to connect RNPP with the national grid is going with coordinated efforts.
"Our work on the Nuclear Power Plant transmission line was delayed due to Covid-19 and the Ukraine war," he said.
He said that construction work is going in full swing to complete the transmission line for connecting Rooppur Power Plant with the national grid within the stipulated time frame.
"Safety is of our utmost importance and all the work is satisfactory. However, with the combined efforts of all, the work is expected to be completed on time," he said.
Later the state minister visited Bheramara power plant and inspected its operation and other factors.
