Financial close for 400MW Bibiyana-III Gas Based Combined Cycle Power Plant

Marubeni Corporation is to construct the 400 MW Bibiyana-III Gas Based Combined Cycle Power Plant in Bangladesh, for which the Japan Bank for International Cooperation signed a loan agreement in buyer’s credit (export loan) on February 29, 2016, with the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), a national power development company in Bangladesh.

The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. (BTMU) is a co-financer and the total loan amount is approximately JPY30.8 billion (US$272.2 million). Nippon Export and Investment Insurance will provide insurance for the portion co-financed by BTMU.

The construction contract was originally received by Marubeni and Korea’s Hyundai Engineering & Construction in December 2012 but later changed to a contract between Marubeni and BPDB. Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems will provide the gas turbine and generator (Mitsubishi Electric will provide the generator), and Fuji Electric will provide the steam turbine and generator. The combined cycle power plant is expected to be completed in the latter half of 2018.

Marubeni also has two other contracts for combined cycle power plants of equivalent scale in Bangladesh. Combined cycle power plants utilize highly efficient and clean power generation technology, i.e. the steam turbine generates power with the steam made by the head recovery steam generator to utilize the exhaust hot gas after the operation of the gas turbine, thereby contributing to effective energy usage and the reduction of greenhouse gases.

In Bangladesh, with the chronic gap in demand and supply of power and the recent economic growth, many new power plant development projects are floated. To assist the growth of Bangladesh, it is intended that the Japanese government will provide up to JPY 600 billion of economic cooperation in four to five years from 2014. Marubeni is committed to investing every possible effort for the successful completion of this project, further expanding the future businesses in the power sector in Bangladesh and also contributing to the future projects to be assisted by the Japanese government.