Payra Port Coal Terminal
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Payra Port Coal Terminal is an operating coal handling facility in Payra Port. An Expansion Plan for a dedicated coal terminal at the port were cancelled in 2022.[1]
Location
The port is located on the west bank of Rabnabad Channel near the Bay of Bengal in Patuakhali, Bangladesh.
Background
The port was established by an Act of Parliament in 2013, and was officially inaugurated in 2016. and Started handling coal in 2019.[2][3][4] It is expected to have a terminal for loading and unloading of coal.[5]
Coal is the main cargo handled at the Port of Payra. The first coal-laden vessel, the Hong Kong-flagged bulk carrier Xin Hai Tong 8, arrived at the port on 19 September 2019 carrying 20,000 tonnes of coal from Indonesia for the Payra power station.[6] The 1,320 MW plant, owned by Bangladesh-China Power Company Limited (BCPCL), burns about 13,000 tonnes of coal per day, imported from Indonesia.[7] A second coal-fired plant in the port area, the 1,320 MW Patuakhali power station of RPCL-Norinco Intl Power Limited (RNPL), also receives imported coal via the port and requires about 4.48 million tonnes of coal per year.[8][9]
In fiscal year 2025–26 the port handled 5.5 million tonnes of imports, "almost entirely coal for the Payra Power Plant, with marginal volumes of stone and cement," and no exports.[10] Coal deliveries have been disrupted by the plant's payment problems and by siltation of the port's access channel. In June 2023 the Payra power station shut down for about 20 days because it could not pay for coal during Bangladesh's US dollar shortage, costing the port authority at least Tk 25 crore in lost revenue.[11] By early 2026 the depth of the Rabnabad channel had fallen to about 6.5 metres from a designed 10.5 metres, and coal ships serving both BCPCL and RNPL were unloading at Chattogram's outer anchorage instead, with the coal carried to Payra by lighterage vessels.[12]
Cancelled Coal Terminal
The port would have a terminal for loading and unloading of coal to fuel the nearby Kalapara power station, a joint venture between state-owned North-West Power Generation Company (a subsidiary of Bangladesh Power Development Board) and China National Machinery Import & Export (Group) Corporation.[13]
The Chinese government planned for a coal terminal at the proposed Sonadia Port, but said it would support a coal terminal at Payra Port if plans for Sonadia did not materialize.[14]
In January 2018, it was reported construction of the coal terminal at Payra was underway for unloading coal from mother vessels for the proposed 1,200 MW coal-fired Payra power station.[15] The coal terminal was planned for operation in 2020.[5]
In March 2022, the government of Bangladesh cancelled the construction of the coal terminal as the project lacks economic viability.[16] Finance Minister AHM Mostafa Kamal also said the government had decided to discourage the construction of coal-based power plants.[1]
Deep seaport project downgraded
In April 2021, after five years of effort, the government gave up the idea to build a deep seaport in Payra and decided to build a regular seaport there, according to State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury.[17]
Accordingly, the port site was relocated from its original offshore location by 65 kilometres to an onshore location at the mouth of the Rabnabad channel. The government was expected to sign a new contract with Jan de Nul, as noted below, and dredging was expected to be completed in 14 months. The partially functioning Payra port was expected to be fully open with a multi-purpose terminal by 2022.[17]
The government also floated a tender to build a six-lane bridge over the River Andharmanik at a cost of Tk400 crore to make the port directly accessible by road. The government also wants to build a railway connection as soon as possible from Payra port to Dhaka. A feasibility study on whether it will be possible to convert the Payra port into a deep seaport in the future is underway.[17]
Dredging & construction ongoing
In 2020, Jan De Nul dredged the initial opening of the Rabnabad Channel to a depth of 6.3 mCD. This dredging campaign allowed for the start of increased sea-bound activities to and from Payra. Since the end of 2020, the Jan De Nul vessels Diogo Caõ and Henry Darcy have been maintaining the depth of 6.3 mCD in the Rabnabad Channel under a follow-up contract signed with the Payra Port Authority.[18]
In June 2021, a new phase of dredging work began and was expected to take approximately three years to complete. Jan De Nul was set to mobilize several dredgers to perform the capital dredging works, deepening the port’s channel from the current 6.3 mCD to 10 mCD. After completion, Jan De Nul vessels will stay to maintain the depths in the channel. In the meantime, large civil infrastructure works on land are continuing to link the Payra Port region to Dhaka.In the meantime, large civil infrastructure works on land are continuing to link the Payra Port region to Dhaka.[18]
Financing
According to IJGlobal, the project costs for the coal terminal are estimated at US$200-500 million. A tendering process for companies to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the terminal failed in 2019 and re-tendering was being attempted in the first quarter of 2020.[19]
In January 2020, it was reported that the Payra Port Authority had signed a US$964 million deal with the Belgian company Jan De Nul for the dredging of a 75 kilometre long and 100–125 metre wide main channel. HSBC and a consortium of unnamed banks were reported to be providing a loan for the dredging works.[20]
As of September 2020, the status of the tendering process and the development of the project remained unclear, though the Financial Express of Bangladesh reported in July that Payra Port dredging was one of various major projects to have been hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic.[21]
In 2021, the government of Bangladesh set aside US$2 billion to create the "Bangladesh Infrastructure Development Fund" from its foreign exchange reserves. The fund was expected to be used to finance port and power sector projects, beginning with dredging at the port. An agreement to set up the fund was signed in March 2021 between the country’s finance ministry, the Payra Port Authority, and the state-owned Sonali Bank.[22]
In April 2021, the government was expected to sign a new contract amounting to Tk5,000 crore (US$585 million) with Jan de Nul under a direct purchase method for capital dredging and maintenance dredging work. The government had previously signed a Public Private Partnership (PPP) contract worth with the company, but the company was having problems in arranging funds on its own. With the change in project configuration, the government was expected to provide the money in a loan from its newly-formed infrastructure development fund to the Payra Port Authority.[17]
In June 2021, Jan De Nul Group and Payra Port Authority signed a contract worth approximately half a billion USD to kick off the next dredging phase. To enable the contract, Payra Port Authority and Sonali Bank reached financial close in May, with support from Bangladesh’s Infrastructure Development Fund.[18]
Social and human rights impacts
The Bank Track profile for the Payra Port Coal Terminal summarizes some of the port's environmental and climate impacts. It also notes the following social and human rights impacts:
- Land acquisitions: "The Dhaka Tribune reported in 2019 that 1,743 families have already been displaced for the construction of the Payra Port. As of February 2019, only part of the compensation sum that they were promised has been paid to the displaced families. Farmlands are also being acquired for the construction of the coal power plants, threathening the livelihoods of local people who cannot continue their crop production."[23][24][25]
- Fishing livelihoods: "The Payra Port Coal Terminal under construction is located near the cross section of the Andharmanik River and Golachipa River. The first river is one of the river spots declared as an Ilish sanctuary, and the Golachipa river is the migration route for these fish. Only 10 kilometers upstream from the power plant side another Ilish sanctuary is located, the Tentulia River. ... Around half a million fishermen are dependent upon Ilish production for their livelihoods."[23][26]
Project Details of coal terminal
- Sponsor: Payra Port Authority
- Location: Kalapara upazila, Patuakhali, Bangladesh.
- Coal Capacity (Million tonnes per annum): Unknown (136,372 tonnes of coal in 2019)[27]
- Status: Operating
- Expansion Status: Cancelled (2022)[1]
- Start Year: 2019[4]
- Type: Imports
- Source of Coal: Indonesia
- Cost: US$585 million
- Financing: Bangladesh Infrastructure Development Fund (Sonali Bank)
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Govt scraps coal terminal project at Payra port | The Daily Star". www.thedailystar.net. Retrieved 2026-08-27.
- ↑ "Payra sea port," The Independent, August 3, 2016
- ↑ "Payra to offer Bangladesh shippers new port option," JOC, June 26, 2017
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "History".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Agreement signed for capital dredging at Payra port," The Independent, December 12, 2017
- ↑ "First coal-laden vessel arrives in Payra port," The Daily Star, September 19, 2019.
- ↑ "PM to inaugurate 1,320MW Payra power plant tomorrow," The Daily Star, March 20, 2022.
- ↑ "Silt chokes Payra Port, forcing vessels to Chattogram," DredgeWire, January 21, 2026.
- ↑ "Patuakhali Coal-fired Power Plant, Kalapara, Patuakhali, Bangladesh," NS Energy, accessed September 2026.
- ↑ "A mega project largely deserted," The Daily Star, September 19, 2026.
- ↑ "Payra port operations slow down for halt in coal imports," The Daily Star, June 19, 2023.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs nameddw20262 - ↑ "British firm wins contract for Payra seaport consultancy," Daily Star, January 16, 2015
- ↑ "Japan Beating China in Race for Indian Ocean Deep-Sea Port," Bloomberg, June 23, 2015
- ↑ "Multipurpose terminal at Payra port on cards," The Bangladesh Post, January 21, 2018
- ↑ Payra port, Banktrack, accessed 2022
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 "Payra downgraded to seaport from deep seaport," The Business Standard, April 19, 2021
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 "Port development in Bangladesh is being taken to new depths," Port Strategy, June 14, 2021
- ↑ "Bangladesh pushes coal/bulk terminal PPP deadline," IJGlobal, February 12, 2020
- ↑ "Payra port re-tenders terminal dredging," Dredging and Port Construction, January 16, 2020
- ↑ Munima Sultana, "Virus stalls six PPP projects," The Financial Express, July 25, 2020
- ↑ "Bangladesh uses foreign exchange surge to set up $2bn infrastructure fund," Global Construction Review, March 17, 2021
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 "Payra Port Coal Terminal," Bank Track, updated January 13, 2021
- ↑ "Frustration mounts over irregularities in Payra port compensation process," Dhaka Tribune, February 17th, 2019
- ↑ "Farmlands near Payra in peril," October 3, 2016
- ↑ "Payra coal-fired power plant a threat to Ilish sanctuaries," Dhaka Tribune, June 12th, 2017
- ↑ Faysal Atik,When will Payra port be fully operational?, bdnews24.com, March 27, 2022
