Russia also will train workers to run the plant, to be built in Rooppur, 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of Dhaka. – File Photo by AP

DHAKA: Russia has agreed to build energy-starved Bangladesh's first nuclear power plant, the government said Friday.

Bangladesh's Ministry of Science said officials from the two countries signed an agreement in Dhaka late Thursday for the $1.5 billion plant.

Russia will supply two reactors capable of generating a total of 2,000 megawatts of electricity for the plant, which is to be built by 2018, the ministry said. It will also supply fuel for the plant and take back the spent fuel, it said.

Russia also will train workers to run the plant, to be built in Rooppur, 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of Dhaka.

Relations between the two countries have been close since Russia backed Bangladesh in its 1971 war of independence with Pakistan.

Bangladesh's decades-old gas-fired power plants are unable to generate enough electricity for the country's 150 million people, with a daily shortfall of about 2,000 megawatts. Businesses complain that the shortages interfere with production.

The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank say Bangladesh's economy, which has grown by more than 5 percent in recent years, will suffer if more electricity is not generated to support industries and agriculture.

The country also is looking at options to switch to coal-fired power plants. It has six coal fields with about 3.3 billion tons of estimated reserves. – AP