UNB, Dhaka :
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has invested $20.2 million in Regent Energy & Power Limited to help develop an independent thermal power project at Ghorashal in Narsingdi.
The project will sell all the output to the Bangladesh Power Development Board, the national electric power company, increasing the supply of reliable and low-cost electricity that will contribute to the country’s economic growth.
Nearly 50 percent of population in Bangladesh does not have access to electricity. This project will add low-cost power generation capacity in the country to improve access to power, reaching an estimated 1.8 million additional residential consumers.
The power, to be generated, will also support local industries to efficiently and competitively manufacture their products and create jobs.
The Regent plant will be set up at a total cost of $84.2 million and is owned by Habib Group, a well-known business group, with stakes in textiles, steel, aviation, fertilizer, paper and power.
In addition to IFC, Infrastructure Development Company Limited and Bangladesh Infrastructure Finance Fund Limited will contribute $33.8 million to the project.
“With massive growth in energy demand in Bangladesh, this project can add reliable and sustainable capacity to the power network,” said Yasin Ali, Managing Director of Habib Group.
