Projects

Project Information

Ninth Power Project

Country and Location

People's Republic of Bangladesh

Borrower

People's Republic of Bangladesh

Date of Approval

18 December 1996

Executing Agencies

The PGCB is a public sector company incorporated under the Companies Act 1994, which will ultimately be responsible for owning and operating the entire transmission system in the country. BPDB is its promoter and the sole shareholder. PGCB is managed by an independent board of directors.

The DESC, incorporated under the Companies Act 1994, will eventually take over the distribution responsibilities in metropolitan Dhaka. DESC is managed by an independent board of directors. DESA is DESCþs promoter and the sole shareholder during DESC's formative years.

DESC is an authority of the Government created in 1991 to distribute electricity in the Dhaka area.

BPDB is an authority of the Government created in 1973 for developing Bangladesh's electricity supply industry on an integrated basis.

Loan Amount

US$134.4 million

Terms

The Bank will provide a loan in various currencies of SDR92,931,000 million ($134.4 million equivalent) from the Bank's Special Fund resources with a repayment period of 40 years including a grace period of 10 years. Principal and the service charge of one percent per annum will be paid semiannually.

Period of Utilization

Until 31 July 2001

Project Description

The Project includes four components:

Part A: Construction of 230kV transmission lines and substations associated with the Meghnaghat Power Project.

Part B: Construction of a National Load Despatch Center and associated communication network.

Part C: Construction of 280 kilometers of 132kV, 33kV, 11kV and 0.4kV distribution systems in metropolitan Dhaka and enhancement of distribution capacity by about 200 MVA and 22,000 new consumer connections in the Mirpur area of Dhaka City.

Part D: Provision of engineering services for the gas-based West Zone Combined Cycle Power Project and the East Zone Open Cycle Peaking Power Projects.

Estimated Cost

The Project is estimated to cost US$313.7 million, including US$197.7 million in foreign exchange.

Financing Plan

Bank	US$134.4 million
World Bank	US$63.3 million
Government/EAs	US$116.0 million

Project Benefits and Beneficiaries

The Project will enable supply of about 575 MW of additional power to the Dhaka area; provide about 22,000 new connections and improve supply quality to all consumers in the Dhaka area.

Consulting Services

There are five components in the consulting services required for the Project namely:

a) Consulting services for supervising the implementation of the Meghnaghat Power Project (Ownerþs Engineer) and transmission lines and substations under Part A of the Project;

b) Consulting services for supervising the implementation of the National Load Despatch Centre under Part B of the Project;

c) Construction supervision of the distribution facilities under Part C of the Project;

d) Consulting services for feasibility studies, engineering and preparation of bid documents for the West Zone Combined Cycle Power Project under Part D of the Project; and

e) Consulting services for studies, engineering and preparation of bid documents for the East Zone Peaking Power Projects under Part D of the Project.

Since the initial design and engineering and a part of the project implementation of Parts A and B are already being performed by project consultants appointed under the Bankþs Loan No. 963-BAN(SF) for the Eighth Power Project recruited in accordance with the Bank's Guidelines on the Use of Consultants, it is proposed that for the sake of continuity and economy, these consultants continue for the remainder of the Project for providing the consulting services covered under (a) and (b) above as is allowed under Section 5.06(c) of the Bank's Guidelines on the Use of Consultants. For the consulting services for components (c), (d) and (e) above, it is recommended that consultants be recruited under international recruitment procedures as per the Bank's Guidelines on the Use of Consultants.

Procurement

Procurement of goods and services financed by the Bank will be carried out in accordance with the Bank's Guidelines for Procurement. In order to accelerate the implementation of the Project, the four executing agencies have been allowed advance procurement action.

Estimated Project Completion Date

31 July 2000

Technical Assistance

Technical Assistance is included for Valuation of Assets of the Dhaka Electric Supply Company. The TA will estimate a reasonable value for the assets that will be transferred by DESA to DESC. The total cost of the TA is US$210,000, including US$124,000 in foreign exchange and US$86,000 equivalent in local currency. The Bank will finance on a grant basis the entire foreign exchange cost of the TA and US$51,000 equivalent of the local currency portion which includes the remuneration and expenses of the local consultants, for a total of US$175,000. DESC will bear the remaining local cost of US$35,000 equivalent.