A Chinese company is set to begin generating electricity from waste at Dhaka’s Aminbazar landfill within the next year and a half, according to State Minister for Local Government Mir Shahe Alam. The government plans to buy the electricity at Tk25 per unit. The project is expected to generate 42 megawatts and feed it into the national grid.

Shahe Alam disclosed the plans after Chinese Ambassador Yao Wen met Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Dr Abdul Moin Khan at the Secretariat on Thursday. A formal tripartite agreement is scheduled to be signed in Beijing on September 2, while a final financing agreement will involve the investor bank, the company and relevant Bangladeshi parties.

The state minister said the price appears high compared with other generation sources, but argued that waste disposal and organic fertiliser production would provide additional benefits. He said the Chinese company would pay monthly rent to the city corporation for use of the landfill, with no government investment required. China also expressed interest in Chattogram’s economic zone and Mongla port development.