Economic Reporter :The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government on Tuesday signed $205 million loan agreements for increasing access to reliable supply of electricity and improving efficiency and capacity of power systems in Bangladesh. The assistance is the third tranche of the $700 million Power System Expansion and Efficiency Improvement Investment Program (PSEEIIP) approved by ADB in 2012. Mohammad Mejbahuddin, Senior Secretary, Economic Relations Division (ERD), and Kazuhiko Higuchi, Country Director, Bangladesh Resident Mission of ADB, signed the agreements on behalf of Bangladesh and ADB respectively, at a ceremony at ERD, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka. ADB assistance under third tranche of the PSEEIIP will help replace aging steam and gas turbine power plants with a more efficient 400 MW gas-fired combined cycle power plant at the Ashuganj Power Station complex. It will also upgrade and construct 72 kilometers of transmission lines, and four substations. Existing analog billing meters will be replaced by 700,000 pre-payment meters in Dhaka Division. "The project will generate 400 MW of electricity, using the same amount of energy that previously produced 220 MW, achieving more than 80% efficiency increase in energy use," said Country Director Kazuhiko Higuchi.