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Power
sector in
Bangladesh
Bangladesh
's
energy infrastructure is
quite small, insufficient
and poorly managed. The per
capita energy consumption in
Bangladesh
is one of the lowest (136
kWH) in the world.
Noncommercial energy
sources, such as wood,
animal wastes, and crop
residues, are estimated to
account for over half of the
country's energy
consumption.
Bangladesh
has small reserves of oil
and coal, but very large
natural gas resources.
Commercial energy
consumption is mostly
natural gas (around 66%),
followed by oil, hydropower
and coal.
Electricity
is the major source of power
for country's most of the
economic activities.
Bangladesh
's installed electric
generation capacity was 4.7
GW in 2009; only
three-fourth of which is
considered to be
‘available’. Only 40% of
the population has access to
electricity with a per
capita availability of 136
kWh per annum. Problems in
the
Bangladesh
's electric power sector
include corruption in
administration, high system
losses, delays in completion
of new plants, low plant
efficiencies, erratic power
supply, electricity theft,
blackouts, and shortages of
funds for power plant
maintenance. Overall, the
country's generation plants
have been unable to meet
system demand over the past
decade.
In
generating and distributing
electricity, the failure to
adequately manage the load
leads to extensive load
shedding which results in
severe disruption in the
industrial production and
other economic activities. A
recent survey reveals that
power outages result in a
loss of industrial output
worth $1 billion a year
which reduces the GDP growth
by about half a percentage
point in
Bangladesh
. A major hurdle in
efficiently delivering power
is caused by the inefficient
distribution system. It is
estimated that the total
transmission and
distribution losses in
Bangladesh
amount to one-third of the
total generation, the value
of which is equal to US $247
million per year.
Renewable energy
Bangladesh
has 15 MW solar energy
capacity through rural
households and 1.9 MW wind
power in Kutubdia and Feni.
Bangladesh
has planned to produce 5% of
total power generation by
2015 & 10% by 2020 from
renewable energy sources
like air, waste & solar
energy.
Recent plans
The
Ministry of Power and Energy
has been mobilising Tk
40,000 crore ($5.88 billion)
to generate 5,000 MW of
electricity to reduce load
shedding into a tolerable
level within next four and
half years during the term
of the present government.
Under the plan, the Power
Development Board (PDB) would
produce 500 MW gas-fired
electricity between July and
December 2009 to over come
load shedding within
December. The PDB would hire
furnace-oil based 1,000MW of
electricity from private
sector from January to June
2010, the plan said. In
2011, the government would
install furnace-oil based
800 MW capacity of power
plant. The PDB officials
would seek suitable place to
establish the plant, a
senior official of the PDB
said. Besides the government
would also hire another
diesel or furnace oil based
power plant having capacity
of 700 MW in 2012 to keep
load shedding into mild
level, the official said.
However, the government also
contemplates to establish
four coal-fired based power
plants with capacity of
producing 500 MW of
electricity each with public
and private partnership
(PPP) in Rajshahi and
Chittagong
region. The government has
initially tried to create
fund of Tk 6,000 crore ($1
billion) to implement the
plan, sources said. The
power division has tried to
utilise the government's
budgetary allocation of Tk.
2000 crore for PPP in this
regard, sources added.
"If we can create the
fund of Tk. 6,000 crore, it
would be possible also to
mobilise Tk 40,000 crore
under ppp to produce 5,000
MW of electricity within
four and half years,"
PDB chairman ASM Alamgir
Kabir told the New Nation on
29 June 2009. During the
meeting, Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina permitted the
power division to implement
the PDB plan to reduce load
shedding up to a tolerable
level. Prime Minister's
Adviser for Power and Energy
Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Bir Bikram,
State Minister for Power and
Energy Shamsul Haque Tuku,
Power Division Secretary Md
Abul Kalam, PDB Chairman ASM
Alamgir Kabir were present.
Recently prime minister
Sheikh Hasina inaugurated a
power plant at Chandpur.
Nuclear power plant
Bangladesh
plans to set up the 1,000 MW
power plant at Rooppur, 200 km
(125 miles) northwest of the
capital
Dhaka
, by 2011.
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