The government yesterday took a number of major decisions for the country's energy security -- including setting up rental power plants to produce 787 megawatt of electricity and importing 60MW from the Indian state of Tripura.

The process of importing 60MW power will be inaugurated by the prime ministers of Bangladesh and India through a video conference on April 8 in New Delhi. The proposal was approved yesterday by the cabinet committee on purchase.

The tariff rate for the import will be Tk 6.31 per kilowatt/hour (kWh) in the first year, after which the rate will increase by 5 percent a year. The import will be for four years.

The country has already imported 100MW of electricity from Tripura since March 2016 at a rate of Tk 6.40/kWh.

The purchase committee also approved proposals for setting up seven quick rental power plants in different places around the country with 15-year tenure.

The plants will produce 787MW of electricity and the price will be Tk 7.92 to Tk 8.40/kWh. A 115MW rental power plant will be set up in Chandpur by a consortium of Doreen Power Generation & Systems and Doreen Power House & Tech. The per unit price of electricity from the furnace oil-based power plant will be Tk 7.93/kWh.

Lakdhanavi will set up a 114MW furnace oil-based power plant in Feni, where the government will purchase electricity at Tk 8.30/kWh. PowerSource Association will set up a 104MW furnace oil-based power plant at Meghnaghat in Narayanganj, where the government will purchase electricity at Tk 8.35/kWh.

Another 113MW rental power plant will be set up in Rangpur by a joint venture of Confidence Cement and Confidence Steel. The per unit price of electricity from the furnace oil-based power plant will be Tk 8.21/kWh. The same joint venture will set up another 113MW power plant in Bogra, the per unit power price from which will be Tk 8.25/kWh.

Energypac Power Generation will establish a 115MW diesel-based power plant in Thakurgaon, from which the government will purchase electricity at Tk 8.22/kWh.

Energyprima will set up a 113MW furnace oil-based power plant in Noakhali. The government will purchase electricity from the plant at Tk 8.41/kWh.

The cabinet also approved a proposal of Summit Group to set up a floating liquefied natural gas terminal on Moheshkhali island in Cox's Bazar, the country's second, at a cost of $500 million.

After the approval, the energy ministry will now sign two agreements with Summit Group: one for terminal use and the other for implementation.

“This will save the country $2,500 a day,” said an official of Summit Group.

Summit LNG Terminal Company, a unit of Summit Group, will develop the floating facilities within 18 months of signing the final contract.

The LNG terminal company will supply 500 million cubic feet of gas per day, for which the government will pay a total of $1.56 billion a year.

The terminal, which will cost Summit $500 million, will be set up on a build-own-operate and transfer basis.

The tenure of the agreement will be 15 years, after which the terminal will have to be handed over to Petrobangla without any cost, according to the energy ministry proposal.

If deemed necessary, Petrobangla can use the Floating Storage Regasification Unit as an LNG terminal.