UNB, Dhaka :
A process is underway to generate power from North Bengal Sugar Mills in Natore on cogeneration method alongside producing refined sugar through setting up a sugar refinery, aiming to give a boost to the earnings of the mills and meet the country’s growing electricity demand.
Cogeneration is the production of electricity in combination with another industrial process. The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) has recently
approved a project to this end involving Tk 73.47 crore. The project will be implemented by the Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC) under the Ministry of Industries by June, 2016.
The entire fund for the project titled ‘Production of Electricity by Co-generation and Establishment of Sugar Refinery at North Bengal Sugar Mills’ will come from the national exchequer.
Talking to UNB, a Planning Commission official said the two major objectives of the project are to generate 6 MW of power by cogeneration method at the North Bengal Sugar Mills at Lalpur upazila, Natore.
Of the possible generated power, some 2 MW would be used for meeting the own demand of the mills while the rest 4 MW to be supplied either to the Rural Electrification Board (REB) or the national grid.
Besides, a sugar refinery would also be set up at the mills to produce 40,000 metric tonnes of refined white sugar annually to boost its revenue generation.
The official said that the annual sugar production capacity of the country’s state-run 15 sugar mills is around 2,10,440 metric tonnes whereas the real sugar production in recent years came down to less than 1 lakh metric tonnes due to shortage of sugar canes.
The sugar mills have to depend on their own boilers for meeting up their electricity demand during production season as those remain closed throughout the year except 3-4 months in the season.
Under the circumstances, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at a meeting at the Ministry of Industries in her previous term on April 12, 2009 directed the authorities concerned to look into whether it is feasible to generate power and sugar at the mills during the off season.
A process is underway to generate power from North Bengal Sugar Mills in Natore on cogeneration method alongside producing refined sugar through setting up a sugar refinery, aiming to give a boost to the earnings of the mills and meet the country’s growing electricity demand.
Cogeneration is the production of electricity in combination with another industrial process. The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) has recently
approved a project to this end involving Tk 73.47 crore. The project will be implemented by the Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC) under the Ministry of Industries by June, 2016.
The entire fund for the project titled ‘Production of Electricity by Co-generation and Establishment of Sugar Refinery at North Bengal Sugar Mills’ will come from the national exchequer.
Talking to UNB, a Planning Commission official said the two major objectives of the project are to generate 6 MW of power by cogeneration method at the North Bengal Sugar Mills at Lalpur upazila, Natore.
Of the possible generated power, some 2 MW would be used for meeting the own demand of the mills while the rest 4 MW to be supplied either to the Rural Electrification Board (REB) or the national grid.
Besides, a sugar refinery would also be set up at the mills to produce 40,000 metric tonnes of refined white sugar annually to boost its revenue generation.
The official said that the annual sugar production capacity of the country’s state-run 15 sugar mills is around 2,10,440 metric tonnes whereas the real sugar production in recent years came down to less than 1 lakh metric tonnes due to shortage of sugar canes.
The sugar mills have to depend on their own boilers for meeting up their electricity demand during production season as those remain closed throughout the year except 3-4 months in the season.
Under the circumstances, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at a meeting at the Ministry of Industries in her previous term on April 12, 2009 directed the authorities concerned to look into whether it is feasible to generate power and sugar at the mills during the off season.
