Rosatom: Will expedite grid connection of Unit 1 of Bangladesh's Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant

Rosatom has made a clear commitment to the Bangladeshi government that it will, within the shortest possible time, push for the connection of Unit 1 of Bangladesh's first nuclear power plant——the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP)——to Bangladesh's national grid and conduct trial operation.

This statement was reached during a high-level bilateral meeting held on Friday in Moscow between Bangladesh's Minister of Science and Technology Fakir·Mahboob·Anam (Fakir Mahboob Anam) and Rosatom Director General Alexey·Likhachev (Alexey Likhachev). The two sides held in-depth consultations on the overall construction progress of the country's first major nuclear energy project, as well as the power generation timetable for Unit 1 equipped with the VVER-1200 reactor.

Likhachev stated that the Russian side will ensure that Unit 1 rapidly completes trial grid synchronization and connection, and emphasized that the project has key strategic significance in safeguarding Bangladesh's energy supply security and providing low-carbon, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective baseload electricity. In addition, Likhachev revealed that system commissioning and preliminary startup preparation work for Unit 2 of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant will officially begin next year.

Minister Anam pointed out that the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant has a planned total installed capacity of 2,400 megawatts (MW), and once both units are fully put into commercial operation, they are expected to meet approximately 11% of Bangladesh's total electricity demand nationwide. During the talks, representatives of the two countries also held constructive discussions on deepening bilateral nuclear energy cooperation based on the engineering experience of the Rooppur project and further expanding Bangladesh's civilian nuclear energy industrial layout.