Photo: Collected
The Power Division is going to add 12,439MW power to the national grid by 2027, but there is no certainty of adequate fuel supply while about 60 per cent of the capacity is sitting idle due to fuel crisis.
Currently, 15,928MW of power is out of generation due to fuel crisis. The present installed capacity is 30,000MW, and the demand forecast is 16,800MW. During 15 years of the Awami League regime, the government achieved remarkable success in power generation in three consecutive terms.
According to Power Cell, a planning wing of the Power Division, 8,383MW will come from the public sector, 3,105MW from joint ventures, 6,426MW from the private sector, and 1,496MW will be imported.
Of this, 2,812MW will be added by 2024, 2,290MW by 2025, 5,077MW by 2026, and 2,260MW by 2027. The plants are based on imported LNG, coal, and oil.
Industry insiders think this is a huge plan, but it will cause the government to suffer again as it is based on imported fuels amid increasing dollar prices.
Electricity supply has declined by 1,235MW against demand while people are suffering due to the severe heat wave. Stakeholders think there is more load-shedding than the Bangladesh Power Development Board’s (BPDB) data.
According to the BPBD, the demand was estimated at 15,300MW for April 3 while generation was 14,344MW, resulting in a shortage of 956MW. Analysing the data, it was found that load-shedding amounted to 1253 MW.
Director General of Power Cell Mohammad Hossain told The Daily Messenger, “We will gradually come out of imported fossil fuel, but it is not possible to do that right now. We have almost phased out the furnace oil-based plan. Gradually, we will adopt clean coal.”
“This plan was made according to the earlier master plan that was focused on coal. But currently, coal is considered dirty energy. So, we have changed our plan, too. In future, clean and renewable energy will be the main focus,” he said.
The government will generate 3,630MW of power from renewable energy by 2027, he informed.
Meanwhile, the Hydrocarbon Unit, Energy and Mineral Resources Division has proposed formulating a smart master plan for the energy sector focusing on local primary energy.
Prominent energy expert Prof Shamsul Alam told The Daily Messenger, “The current master plan is very whimsical. It emphasises imported pricey fuel ignoring local energy. Of course, it will be better if we can sketch another master plan based on domestic fuel. But the upcoming projects will create burdens for the Power Division.”
Petrobangla Chairman Zanendra Nath Sarkar told The Daily Messenger, “Of course, we are suffering due to the primary energy crisis. The crisis will last till 2026 because we have signed long-term contracts with Qatar for LNG imports that will start arriving in 2026. The crisis will then ease. I hope the upcoming projects will get gas supply on time.”
In this situation, the additional cost of energy import is putting pressure on the country's economy. The new plan will make ways to protect the country by increasing domestic energy production.
The government took the mega projects to meet the power demand in 100 economic zones. Gradually, the economic zones are getting ready for industrialisation, but a major portion of the power generation capacity cannot generate power due to fuel scarcity.
Messenger/Disha
