To support the development of high efficiency power generation to meet the increasing demand and diversify energy resources.
The Project involves the development and operation of a 584 MW combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant, on a build-own-operate basis. The Project is located at Pirojpur, Sonargaon in the Narayanganj district of Bangladesh. This is being developing jointly by Unique Hotel and Resorts Limited, Nebras Power Investment Management B.V., Strategic Finance Limited, and GE Capital Global Energy Investments B.V., through a special purpose vehicle - Unique Meghnaghat Power Limited (UMPL). UMPL entered into a 22-year Power Purchase Agreement with Bangladesh Power Development Board.
The AIIB’s Environmental and Social Policy (ESF/ESP 2019), including Environmental and Social Standard 1 (ESS1) on Environmental and Social Assessment and Management, ESS2 on Involuntary Resettlement and the Environmental and Social Exclusion List are applicable to this Project.
In accordance with AIIB’s ESP, an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) including an Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP) and a Livelihood Restoration Plan (LRP) have been prepared. Though the Project is under construction, a comprehensive environmental and social (ES) due diligence and a Land Audit have also been conducted. A separate Environment and Social Action Plan (ESAP) has been prepared based on the ES due diligence and in accordance with the ESP. The ESAP includes time-bound actions that the client will be required to carry out during the implementation of this Project.
Environmental and Climate Change Aspects. During the construction phase, the project will result in some negative impacts, including air pollution, noise, soil erosion, impacts of landfilling, discharge of wastewater and the disposal of construction wastes. The water abstraction from the Meghna river will not affect other water users and the impact of effluent on water quality and temperature will minor. Other major environmental impacts during operation phase include emissions of air pollutants, noise, ecological impact, and solid wastes. The results of emission dispersion modeling showed the impact of this Project on ambient airshed quality is minor. Noise modeling showed the noise level can meet the standards during daytime and has negligible impacts on sensitive receptors during night-time. The critical habitat assessment conducted as part of the ESIA revealed that no critical habitat was triggered in accordance with the Performance Standard 6 of International Finance Corporation (IFC). The mitigation measures have been developed for all negative impacts and be included into the ESMP. The recommendations have also been incorporated into the design of the Project. A risk assessment was also carried out and an Emergency Management Plan was developed as part of the ESIA.
A Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA) has been conducted to analyze cumulative impacts on ambient airshed quality, noise and water use due to this Project, existing emission sources, those under construction and proposed development activities in the vicinity of the project. The cumulative impacts are not significant and can be negligible, thus, no further mitigations measures are proposed.
The total green-house gas (GHG) emission from various emission sources, during the operation phase is estimated to be about 1,727,452 ton of CO2eq per year. This equals to 0.37ton CO2eq per MWh of power generation (the average grid emission factor in Bangladesh is 0.67 tons CO2/MWh). The Project has adopted climate resilience designs and those adapted to natural hazards, like flooding prevention and water harvest.
Social Aspects. Land has been purchased from 343 landowners in two tranches and related payments made in full. The widening of an access road, considered an associated facility to the Project, has adversely impacted 63 people, nine of which are informal users. Some landowners who have sold their land and those adversely impacted by the road widening require additional measures to support restoration of their livelihoods, as required by ESS2 and detailed in the LRP. These measures include a combination of financial payments, professional and skills trainings, potential employment for project activities and agriculture assistance, depending on their needs and capacities. Some villagers who rely on fishing, would receive in-kind support as they will lose access to the riverfront, which is critical to their fishing activities. Special considerations and compensation provisions have been made for 26 vulnerable households, 20 of which are women-headed households. A third-party will be retained by UMPL to implement the LRP.
Gender aspects. Dedicated focus group discussions with women surrounding project area were held during the preparation of the ESIA and LRP. The former includes a Gender Action Plan detailing activities requested by female PAPs. The LRP has identified 20 women-headed households who will receive additional compensation. Special provisions for acceptance and handling of complaints related to Gender-based violence, sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse will be included in the proposed project-level Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM).
Stakeholder engagement and information disclosure. Public consultations with project-affected people and communities, government agencies and other stakeholders have been carried out during the preparation of ESIA and LRP. Additional consultations will be held during the disclosure of the ESIA and the LRP, as detailed in the Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) to enable meaningful and inclusive participation. The ESIA and LRP in English have been disclosed at the UMPL website. The ES documents are also made available for download at AIIB website. The Executive Summary of ESIA and the full LRP are being translated into Bengali language and be disclosed timely on the same websites in due course. Based on stakeholder consultation feedback, the ESIA including ESMP and LRP will be finalized.
GRM. A two-tier GRM is proposed in the ES documentation as the project-level GRM and that has been established by UMPL. Locally appropriate public consultation and disclosure process will be used to timely disseminate information about the project-level GRM and the PPM of AIIB. A separate GRM will be established for workers to address workplace complaints and concerns. A brochure about the GRM and PPM in Bengali language will be prepared and be available from the project office of UMPL.
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Amit Kumar
Unique Meghnaghat Power Limited Anupam Hayat
Home Projects Project Summary Project List Project Details Bangladesh: Unique 584MW Combined Cycle Power Plant
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank whose mission is financing the Infrastructure for Tomorrow—infrastructure with sustainability at its core. We began operations in Beijing in January 2016 and have since grown to 105 approved members worldwide. We are capitalized at USD100 billion and Triple-A-rated by the major international credit rating agencies. Working with partners, AIIB meets clients’ needs by unlocking new capital and investing in infrastructure that is green, technology-enabled and promotes regional connectivity.
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