Rooppur cost now hits $13.5b [ Tritiyo Matra News ]

Rooppur cost now hits $13.5b

Local October 28, 2015

The construction of the proposed Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant will cost around US$ 13.5 billion surpassing all previous estimates.
Finance minister AMA Muhith on Tuesday disclosed the figure after a meeting with the officials of Rosatom, the Russian state-owned atomic corporation, at his secretariat office.
Rosatom will build the 2,400 megawatt capacity plant as per a government-to-government deal between Bangladesh and Russia.
After the meeting, Muhith told reporters that Russia would give loan on maximum four per cent interest rate to cover 90 per cent of the project cost.
The government will have to bear 10 per cent of the cost, he said.
The new figure on the construction cost of the country’s first nuclear power plant surpassed all previous estimates.
It was initially estimated that the Rooppur plant would cost US$ 2 – US$ 3 billion after Bangladesh began conceiving the plan for a nuclear power plant with capacity of 1000 megawatt, following Russia’s formal proposal in 2009.
Later, indications by the project officials suggested that the project cost would be no less than US$ 10 billion, after 2011, as the government revised the project by more than doubling power generation capacity of the plant to 2400 megawatt.
Quoting Rosatom experts, local project officials said the latest project cost came out of doubling the capacity and the use of the most modern technology with safety measures.
Reuters reported on January 14, 2014, that Rosatom would expand Hungary’s only nuclear power plant, more than doubling its capacity, under a loan deal of 10 billion euros equivalent to $13.65 billion between Russia and Hungary for the construction of two new units.
On March 15, 2015, Jordan signed an agreement with Russia worth $10 billion for building the kingdom’s first nuclear power plant with a total capacity of 2,000 megawatts by the same Rosatom.
Muhith said the Russians had apprised him of various aspects of the power plant construction, which is expected to be started in 2018-19 and completed in 2024-25.
He said the country would have to pay back the loan in 28 years with 10 years of grace period.
Russian ambassador Alexander Nikolaev and the Rosatom officials, including its first deputy director general Nikolay Spassky, were present at the meeting.
Roastom officials have sought permission to start work on some of the project components before the singing of the financial contract next year.
Muhith said he needed discussions with other government bodies to give permission for works before the financial deal.
The Rosatom officials said the government should immediately start training of at least 250 experts in phases. They said experts would need to operate the plant as Rosatom will give one year service after the commissioning of the plant.
Muhith assured the Rosatom officials of proper focus on the manpower training by the authorities concerned.
Rosatom, which has completed feasibility study on the project, said the plant would have two nuclear reactors with a 60-year lifespan. The reactors would be third generation in nature, it said.
Bangladesh signed a series of agreements with Russia for nuclear cooperation—including building a power plant.
An inter-governmental agreement for provision of a US$ 500 million Russian loan to finance engineering surveys on the site, project development and personnel training was signed in January 2013. The loan will be repaid in 12 years with five years grace period.
The International Atomic Energy Agency is closely involved with the project.