The government plans to sign an engineering, procurement and construction contract today for the installation of the Payra coal-fired power plant in Patuakhali.

The plant would generate 1,320 MW of electricity from 2019, Mohammad Hossain, director general of Power Cell, told the news agency yesterday.

He said Bangladesh-China Power Company Ltd, a joint venture firm of Chinese Power Company (CMC), and state-owned North-West Power Generation Company Ltd (NWPGCL) would sign the contract.

Hossain said the government plans to set up series of coal-fired power plants countrywide to increase the power generation capacity to 34,000 MW by 2030 under the Power System Master Plan (2010-2030).

Currently, 76 percent of the population enjoy electricity, as the power generation capacity has reached 14,500 MW, he said.

According to the officials, the thermal power plant would be established under a joint venture initiative with funds from Chinese Exim Bank.

Towfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, power, energy and mineral resources affairs adviser to the prime minister, and Nasrul Hamid, state minister for the ministry, are scheduled to attend the deal signing ceremony. Earlier, the NWPGCL and the CMC signed a deal on March 19 last year to set up the plant at a cost of $2 billion.