The Power Development Board (PDB) yesterday initialled an unsolicited rental power contract with a British company to generate 200 megawatts of power.

According to the deal, 100MW of power would be generated within June 22 and the full-capacity production would be reached within July 28, sources said.

British company Aggreko, one of the world leaders in rental power, will install its diesel-fired power generation equipment in Ghorashal and Khulna or any other site designated by the government.

Meanwhile, the cabinet committee on economic affairs headed by the finance minister yesterday approved a proposal giving waiver from the Public Procurement Regulation (PPR) and Public Procurement Act (PPA) to procure urgent rental power of 1,000MW to 1,500MW without any tender.

Both PPR and PPA bar public procurement without open tenders.

The deal with Aggreko was achieved following the country's fastest ever negotiation spearheaded by a high-powered committee led by Power Secretary AK Azad. Other members of the committee includes representatives of PDB, the National Board of Revenue, law ministry, power ministry and the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

The high-powered committee has also been negotiating for urgent rental power installation with Alsthom of USA, Apac of Australia and a Turkish company. The committee has invited a few more rental power companies including GE of USA, which are yet to hold any negotiation.

Yesterday's deal was initialled within 12 days of the prime minister's nod to urgently install 600MW to 1,200MW rental power on unsolicited negotiation basis with experienced companies. The PM made the decision hoping that the unsolicited deals with experienced bidders would minimise the ongoing load shedding from July-August.

The final contract with Aggreko will be signed after the cabinet's purchase committee gives it a green signal. Sources said the power ministry would seek the committee's approval next week to ensure the fastest ever implementation of a power contract in the country.

Aggreko has been producing 40MW of rental power in Khulna since 2008 under a three-year contract. The cost per kilowatt-hour from the Khulna plant is Tk 21.52 -- the highest tariff of the country.

Without giving any figure a competent PDB source, however, said the power tariff under the current deal would be much lower than that of the Khulna deal with Aggreko.

Sources said the deal with Aggreko could be secured quickly because the company had its equipment ready for mobilisation. So far the other rental power companies could not assure immediate mobilisation of their plant equipment.

“The negotiations with the rental companies mainly focussed on whether they have power generation equipment ready to be mobilised in different places of the country,” said an official.

PDB secretary Azizul Islam and Managing Director of Aggreko (Asia) Devajit Das signed yesterday's deal at the power division. Finance Minister AMA Muhith, PM's Energy Adviser Towfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, State Minister for power Enamul Haque, Power Secretary AK Azad, PDB Chairman ASM Alamgir Kabir and others were present on the occasion.

After the signing, the finance minister said though the power tariff of this deal was very high, the government would welcome the deal if the company could install the plant within the time frame.

He said for the last 16 months, the government has been trying to ease the country's power crisis. But due to different problems, including lack of gas supply, the government finally opted for diesel and furnace oil-based power plants which would be costlier than coal and gas-based plants.

The finance minister noted that the country would ultimately have to rely on large-scale coal exploration for power generation and tap regional power grid sharing.

Central bank governor Dr Atiur Rahman yesterday urged banks, business organisations and households to go for green power systems to make their respective offices and residences environment-friendly.

Rahman made the call while addressing the inaugural ceremony for installing an eight-kilowatt solar power system on the Bangladesh Bank (old building) rooftop.

“I call upon organisations and households to install solar power systems with the BB's refinance loan scheme,” he said.

Late last year the BB allocated Tk 200-crore low-cost revolving fund for refinancing commercial banks' green power projects.

The governor expressed hope that the BB move would particularly encourage the commercial banks to set up solar power systems at least at their headquarters if not at all offices.

He said the BB would help its own employees to install solar panels in their houses.

The governor said the move is indicative of the BB's seriousness about increasing power generation through renewable sources at a time when conventional sources such as gas and coal are becoming scarcer.

“From economic point of view it is not a big project,” Rahman told reporters. "But, psychologically it is a big success.”

Rahimafrooz Renewable Energy Ltd, the leading solar power system provider in the country, has installed the system for the BB at a cost of around Tk 1.35 crore.

Initially, the governor's secretariat, guest lounge, board and conference rooms and the lights of the BB's boundary walls will get power from the newly installed solar power system.

The system has 116 panels, 48 batteries, five charge controllers and four inverters.

The panels will get warranty services for 20 years, while batteries and other equipment five years.

Senior BB officials and managing directors of commercial banks were present at the programme.

Currently renewable energy contributes less than one percent to overall power generation in the country, with solar home systems being installed mainly in the off-grid areas and leading the green energy segment.

More than four lakh houses across the country have now been powered by solar energy with a capacity of generating over 20 megawatts, according to state-owned Infrastructure Development Company Ltd

After allocating a Tk 200-crore low-cost revolving fund for refinancing banks' green power projects this year, the central bank will now set example for the banks by installing a solar power system at its headquarters.

Rahimafrooz Renewable Energy Ltd (RREL), the largest solar power system provider in the country, has already been selected as the lowest bidder for the project.

“Bangladesh Bank is expected to install the system in one month,” said Governor Dr Atiur Rahman.

Rahman hoped the BB move would encourage the commercial banks to go for green power systems in their respective offices soon.

According to RREL officials, the system with a capacity of generating 20-25 kilowatts will cost the BB over Tk 1 crore.

Earlier, RREL had installed a solar power system at the Prime Minister's Office at a cost of around Tk 99 lakh.

Energy sector people have hailed both the initiatives.

They said such moves are indicative of the government's seriousness about increasing power generation through renewable sources at a time when conventional energy sources such as gas and coal are becoming scarcer.

The government has decided in principle to install solar power units in all public and semi-government offices to promote expansion of renewable energy.

It has also set a vision for generating power from the sun, wind, biomass and biogas with an aim to meet 5 percent of the country's total power demand by 2015, and 10 percent by 2020.

Currently renewable energy contributes less than one percent to overall power generation in the country, with solar home systems being installed mainly in off-grid areas and leading the green energy segment.

More than four lakh homes across the country have now been powered by solar energy with a capacity of generating over 20 megawatts of electricity, according to state-owned Infrastructure Development Company Ltd.

The central bank governor said: “I urge all banks to install solar power system to save conventional power for industrial use.”

Niaz Rahim, chairman of RREL, termed the BB initiative a good move for further expansion of solar power system in the country.

He said solar energy would be able to generate 500 megawatts of power by 2015 in Bangladesh.

Eastern Bank Ltd, a private commercial bank, has already shown interest to install solar power system at its head office.

“We have requested quotation from RREL for installation of the solar panel at our head office,” said Ali Reza Iftekhar, managing director of the bank.

DHAKA, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Bangladesh on Sunday said it wants to secure $10 billion in investment to boost its limping energy sector and plans a series of roadshows in Britain, the United States and Singapore to woe investors.

A lack of power and gas has held back development, hampered poverty reduction and slowed overall economic growth, it said, and so an 11-member team of experts, led by the prime minister's energy adviser, Towfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, would seek the investment needed to turn the sector around.

Terming the trip a "road show" to drum up investment, Chowdhury told reporters before departing on Sunday that initially they would aim to attract $5 billion investment for the period until 2013, and then another $5 billion by the end of 2021.

Bangladesh's donors and friendly governments had long insisted the impoverished Indian ocean nation of 150 million people must have a freely elected democratic government to woo investors and pursue development, especially in energy and infrastructure that are key to take the fledgling economy forward.

Bangladesh's annual GDP growth has hovered at around 6 percent over the past decade but the officials, economists and analysts say Dhaka needs to achieve double-digit growth to combat poverty that still grips more than 40 percent of its people.

"Bangladesh will seek $10 billion foreign direct investment to generate enough power to meet fast growing demands and achieve double-digit growth by 2021," Chowdhury said.

"We will hold a series of seminars in different countries to attract potential investors," he said, adding that the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina aims to augment power generation to the optimum level by the next five years.

"Initially we will require $5 billion to produce 4,035 megawatts (MW) of electricity over the next four years."

Bangladesh currently produces up to 3,800 MW of electricity against daily requirements of up to 5,000 MW, energy officials said, adding that the demand is expected to rise to 8,364 MW by 2013.

The mainly agrarian Bangladesh also wants to push industrialising, especially agro-based and environment friendly industries to find more jobs for its people and reduce dependence on foreign aid.

Chowdhury said the Bangladesh government has planned to install three combined cycle power plants with total capacity of 1,125 MW and two peaking power plants with 100 MW capacity each.

Also it plans to install imported coal-based power plants to produce up to 2,600 MW by 2013.

"Besides, we will generate 110 MW power by renewable energy based plants and set up one liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the Bay of Bengal for easy off-loading of imported LNG containers," the energy adviser said.

He said that all the plants would be set up on build, operate and own basis.

 

DHAKA, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Bangladesh will import up to 1,200 megawatts (MW) of electricity from India by the middle of 2012 to meet its fast growing demand for power, a senior government official said on Wednesday.

"There will be an umbrella agreement under which we will import electricity from India," said A.S.M. Alamgir Kabir, chairman of the state-run Power Development Board (PDB).

"A deal in this regard will be signed during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to India next month," he told Reuters in an interview.

Hasina was due to make her first visit to New Delhi since taking office as prime minister for a second time in January later this month but has postponed the trip until middle of January, officials said.

The date for the visit has yet to be finalised, they said.

Initially Bangladesh will buy 500 MW of electricity across the border at an estimated cost of nearly $200 million, and then gradually increase it up to 1,200 MW over three years, Alamgir said.

Bangladesh's state-managed Power Grid Company and Indian state-run Power Grid Corporation will jointly set up transmission lines to carry the power to the Bangladeshi grid.

Both the countries have agreed to bear the inter-connection costs in their respective territories. India also offered to provide soft loans to Bangladesh to set up its connecting grid, the PDB chairman added.

The World Bank has also shown willingness to fund the connecting grid, the first ever between the two neighbours, Alamgir said.

Bangladesh produces around 3,700 MW of electricity on average daily against the peak hour demand for over 5,500 MW, officials said, adding that electricity demand has been growing by 7.50 percent annually since 1990.

Around 40 percent of Bangladesh's 150 million population has access to electricity, one of the lowest levels in the world.

Augmenting electricity generation is a key priority of Hasina's government which committed to generate 5,000 MW by 2011, and 7,000 MW by 2013.

"That will require an investment of $7 billion," Alamgir said."But it should not be difficult for us as the private sector and development partners including World Bank and Asian Development Bank desired to play the major role while the government plays the role of the catalyst."

 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said the country would get rid of power crisis by 2011 as 1,487MW of power will be generated and added to the national grid by then.

"Bangladesh will be self-sufficient in power by 2021 and 100 percent people of the country will get electricity facility according to the government's vision," Hasina said while replying to lawmakers' queries in parliament.

She also told the House that over 50,000 flats would be built in the capital and over 17,000 others across the country to address accommodation problem.

Hasina said as per her government's current plan 667MW of additional power would be fed to the national grid by 2009 and another 820MW through picking power plants by 2011.

She said the government has already floated tender for setting up of the picking power plants considering shortage of gas.

Processes are also underway to generate 900MW of power by 2012 and 1,895MW by 2014, she added.

Requests for proposal have been invited for setting up rental power plants in private sector in the first phase to generate 530MW of power by August 2010, she said, adding, "A process is underway to set up another rental power plant with the capacity of generating extra 970MW of power."

Hasina also spoke about the feasibility study for setting up coal-based power plants in Chittagong, Khulna, Shariatpur and Meghnaghat by 2014 with a capacity of generating 2,000-2,600MW.

The government has taken up plans to set up wind power units and solar power plants to generate 280MW of power by 2013, she added

 

The present government has started setting up seven power plants in six northern districts under Rajshahi division, which aimed at minimising power shortage.

Chief Engineer of Northern Distribution Division under Power Development Board (PDB) Latifur Rahman told the news agency yesterday that tender documents were already received and evaluation works of those are progressing.

He said additional 370 megawatt power will be added to the national grid on successful completion of the construction works, which will help fulfil power demands in the 16 northern districts on a large scale.

Of the total seven, four stations will be established with the government's own expenditures, while the three others will be on rental basis.

Rahman hoped the stations will go on generation by March 2011. He said the rental stations are 50-megawatt each at Thakurgaon, Syedpur under Nilphamari and at Katakhali in Rajshahi.

The government will purchase the generated electricity from these stations and will supply those to consumers at a subsidised rate.

Besides, the state-owned stations are 50-megawatt each at Katakhali of Rajshahi Santaher of Bogra, Baghabari of Sirajganj.

Land of the Railway Department has been selected for setting up power plant in Santahar.

He said additional gas will not be provided for operating any more power plants. So, there is no alternative to furnace oil, diesel or coal to generate electricity.

The PDB engineer said the government has taken up this programme for setting up furnace oil based rental power plants that will solve the region's existing power crisis within the next two years.

As part of this, construction of another coal-based 125-megawatt power unit is at final stage at Barapukuria. It is expected to go into production next year.

The diesel-run power plants will start generating furnace oil-based electricity by next March, Rahman added.

At present, he said the PDB supplies around 420 to 450 megawatt power to the 16 northern districts through the national grid against the daily average demand for 700 megawatts.

To bring balance in production with the demand, 300 megawatt more power will be added to the new regional gridline.

On the other hand, he mentioned that the government has also approved a proposal for establishing six more 33-kilovolt power sub-stations each in Rangpur, Gaibandha, Sirajganj, Pabna, Dinajpur and Thakurgaon districts.

The Power Cell has recommended to the government installation of a 100MW wind-based power plant in Chittagong.
  The cell made the recommendation last month after the Power Division had asked its research and planning wing to make a plan for installation of windmills in the country for generating electricity to reduce dependency on conventional energy, officials said.
   Power secretary Abul Kalam Azad told New Age on Thursday, ‘We are examining the recommendations of the cell on installation of the 100MW wind-based power plant. We will also try to tap other renewable resources along with the wind.’
   Officials of the Power Cell said in the proposal that they recommended carrying out a detailed feasibility study on installation of the wind mill in Chittagong.
   ‘In fact, the cell made the recommendations after scrutinising a proposal of a US-based company to install a 400MW wind-based power plant at Patenga in Chittagong. We pointed that initially the power plant should be of 100MW capacity and installed away from Patengna, preferably at Sitakunda,’ said an official.
   He said the power plant should be installed through inviting open tender as many companies are now interested in setting up wind-based power plant in Bangladesh.
   Earlier, in June, adviser to the prime minister, Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, told reporters that they had asked the Power Cell to make recommendations on installation of a 50-MW wind-based power plant.
   The official said the installation cost of a 100MW wind-based power plant could be around Tk 1,000 crore to Tk 1,500 crore while the production cost of each unit of electricity would be around Tk 10 to Tk 12 because of the huge capital.
   ‘Although there is no fuel cost in generating electricity from a wind mill, the high capital cost pushes up the price of electricity. As wind mill is environment-friendly many people opt for wind power. The per unit production cost of gas-based electricity is around Tk 2 while it is Tk 8 to Tk 10 in oil-based power,’ he said.
   Although Bangladesh has been considering installation of wind-base power plants, experts earlier found that wind speed in most parts of the country was not suitable for large wind power plants.
   Two 1MW wind turbines have so far been installed at Muhuri at Feni and in Cox’s Bazar but they are not very successful in generating electricity regularly.
   Different studies including that of the Local Government Engineering Department showed that annual wind speed in the coastal belt ranges from 2.96 metres per second to 4.54 m/sec at Kuakata.
   Power officials, however, said wind blows at an average speed of 5.5 to 9.5 m/s at 20m above the ground in some places of the country including Chittagong almost throughout the year.
   ‘With this wind speed and the new technology, it is now possible to generate large amount of electricity although earlier we believed the wind speed should be over 10 m/s for generating electricity,’ said an official.
   The country is facing a shortfall of nearly 2,000mw of power a day due to the limited capacity of electricity generation.
   Bangladesh’s more than 80 per cent power is generated using natural gas but with the current shortage of gas, the government is looking for alternative energy sources like coal, fuel oils, wind and solar.

The Power Division today meets local entrepreneurs and foreign investors to seek investments in the installation of high-cost, short-term rental power, peaking and coal-based power plants.
   
The prime minister’s adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury and the state minister for power and energy, Enamul Haque, will attend the meeting at Bidyut Bhaban at 2:00pm.
   
Power Division officials said they had invited local entrepreneurs, foreign investors and representative of foreign companies in Bangladesh to the meeting, which is open for all.
  
 ‘We will take up with them the government plan on installing rental power plants of 1,500MW, peaking plants of 800MW and coal-based power plants of 2,000MW and seek their suggestions and recommendations,’ the power secretary, Abul Kalam Azad, told New Age on Tuesday.
   
He said recommendations would also be sought on how fast the power plants could be installed to tackle the ongoing power shortage.
   
Tawfiq-e-Elahi on Sunday told reporters huge investments would be needed to install the rental, peaking and coal-based power plants.
   
Asked whether local investors having little experience in running rental power plants would be able to install such plants in a short time, he said, ‘We will give it a try as we should encourage our investors to put in money in the power sector.’
   
The immediate-past interim government selected some local entrepreneurs for the installation of rental power plants, but the entrepreneurs allegedly brought some non-existent foreign companies as partners. Installation of most of the power plants was delayed.
   
The foreign companies on the other hand asked for exorbitant prices for electricity at that time.
   
The government, meanwhile, is yet to decide how many rental power plants it will install.
  
 ‘Our plan is to install rental power plants with a combined capacity of 500MW–1,500MW. We are now selecting sites for the power plants. We will go for tenders whenever we get sites for the power plants, for 600MW or 400MW. The exact capacity is yet to be decided,’ said a power official.
   
Officials said the Power Development Board had selected four to five sites for rental power plants.
   
The power secretary will visit the sites later this week to decide the location for the installation of rental power plants. The government has taken up plans to install power plants of around 7,000MW by 2014.
   
The country faces power shortage of around 2,000MW as the generation is around 3,800MW against the demand for around 5,500MW–6,000MW.

 

The power and energy ministry of the government Thursday finally made a move to create a mega fund for development of the country's power-energy sector that had been experiencing cash crunch for long, reports UNB.

At a meeting, the power and energy ministry decided to move for the titanic fund under which a gas sector development (GSD) fund would also be created first through raising gas prices.

The estimation of the whole mega-fund raising scheme was yet to be finalised, but the sector needed billions of dollars in investment to meet its demand, said Prime Minister's Adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury Bir Bikram, who presided over the meeting.

Earlier, he said that the mega fund would be worth Tk 100 billion.

About the GSD fund, which would be created through raising gas prices, Energy Secretary Mohammad Mohsin told reporters that the finance ministry had finally given its concurrence for creating the fund.

He mentioned that the GSD fund was going to be formed in line with a pending appeal of the Petrobangla with Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) for raising the gas tariff.

Last year, the BERC rejected the appeal, attaching some conditions that the appeal could only be considered to raise gas price by 10-15 per cent if the Petrobangla moved to create a development fund for the sake of energy security.

Another condition tagged by the watchdog body was that the fund must be tax-free and it had to be utilised exclusively for exploration and development work for the gas sector.

Explaining the matter, Mohsin said initially National Board of Revenue (NBR) rejected the proposal moved by Petrobangla for keeping the GSD fund tax-free. But, after negotiations, now the finance ministry had given an innovative solution - that the tax must be paid. But Petrobangla would get back the payments through a budgetary support.

After the solution, now Petrobangla again moves to the BERC to allow it to raise the gas prices to create the fund.

Mohsin, however, said raising gas price was a lengthy process and it would not happen so soon.

"Because, it is absolutely the matter of the BERC to consider any appeal for raising price," he added.

Bangladesh and Russia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) here yesterday as an umbrella accord aimed at enhancing cooperation between the two countries in peaceful use of nuclear energy, by way of installing a nuclear plant in the first place.

The immediate purpose of the deal signed between the state-owned Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) and the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation-Rosatom-is to take necessary steps for building a 600-1000-megawatt power plant in Bangladesh.

"This is a great moment for us. Through the signing of this agreement, we are moving forward to implement our election commitment to build up a nuclear power project in Rooppur," said State Minister for Science and ICT Architect Yeafesh Osman.

NN Spasskiy, Deputy Director General of Rosatom, who signed the agreement on Russian part, said, "This agreement will enable us to provide avenue for cooperation in peaceful use of nuclear energy. But one thing is in our mind to design and build Bangladesh's first nuclear power plant."

Spasskiy is leading a 5-member Russian delegation, who arrived Tuesday.

BAEC acting chairman Mosharraf Hossain signed the MoU on behalf of his organisation while Science and ICT Secretary Nazmul Huda Khan was present at the function in the conference room of the ICT Ministry.  Russian ambassador GP Trotsenko was also present on the occasion.

At the function, late nuclear scientist and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's husband Dr Wazed Mia was remembered with great respects as the state minister said through this project, the late scientist's dream will come true.
Both sides, however, termed the agreement very preliminary one as it was signed after an initial negotiation. If negotiation proceeds, a state-level agreement will be signed later.

Yeafes noted that Bangladesh has earlier signed similar agreements with the USA and China as well.
"We will seek proposals from other countries and finally accept that proposal which will be most competitive for Bangladesh," he said.

He said that it might take 4-5 years to implement the planned 600-1000-MW nuclear power plant. The cost of the plant might be $ 1.5-2 billion.

The head of Russian delegates said Russia is confident that its proposal will be "quite competitive" and its technology is "best in the world".

"We have finalised two agreements for setting up nuclear plants in India. We are setting up 2 plants in China and one in Iran," he said, adding that Russia, a superpower of the past Cold War era, has engaged in building nuclear power plants in different countries in Europe, Africa and Asia.

Russia has also 31 nuclear power plants which generate 16 per cent of its total electricity.
The Russian chief of delegates also believes that funding for the Bangladesh nuclear plant would not be a problem as Russian technology is a proven one.

"It's not problem of money. The first thing is to finalise the agreement. There will be different options of funding. But Bangladesh government will have the sovereign authority to take decision on the matter," Spasskiy told reporters responding to a question.

Prime Minister's energy Adviser Dr Taufiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury Birbikram said the initial cost involvement in the nuclear power is high, but its production cost is cheaper.

Sources said the MoU envisages taking necessary measures for installation of reactors for power generation and development of other infrastructures for setting up a nuclear power plant, supply of energy for the plant and operation and maintenance and also the waste management of the plant.

A Bangladesh delegation is now to visit Russia soon to see its nuclear power plant and also hold the final round of negotiations.

Earlier, Prime minister Sheikh Hasina provisionally approved the draft MoU, officials said last week.
Science secretary Nazmul Huda Khan told the news agency on Monday that they had made a lot of ground in the negotiations.

The draft MoU was finalised in a three-day meeting last month in Dhaka where they had agreed on installation of the plant.
Ministry officials said the capacity of the power plant would be finalised in the final deal but the government decided to set up two plants,each with 1000 megawatt capacity.

Russia did not specify the financial terms which would be settled after the final agreement, said the officials with direct knowledge of the negotiations.

Sources said Russia was interested to provide loan, probably on easy terms, rather than grant. The Economic Relation Division will settle the financial terms and conditions once the MoU is signed.

Russia supplied 10 nuclear power plants last year and has supplied as many as 65 plants to Iran, India, China, Armenia, Ukraine, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Finland, Bulgaria and Germany. Currently it is constructing 11 power plants in countries.

The first initiative to install nuclear power plant in Bangladesh in Rooppur, Pabna was taken in 1961.
Currently 439 power plants are producing 16 per cent of total electricity around the world.
China and South Korea also approached Bangladesh to set up new clear power plant.

DHAKA (Reuters) - Asia Energy Corp (Bangladesh), sister firm of UK-based GCM Resources PLC, has proposed to build a 1,000 megawatts (MW) power plant using coal from Bangladesh's northwest field, a senior energy official said on Saturday.

The firm submitted a plan to the Bangladesh government to develop a coal mine at the field at Phulbari, 350 km (220 miles) northwest of the capital Dhaka, using open pit mining technology.

"We have received the proposal (for the power plant) through the board of investment, but before giving them any green signal, we need to get an approved national coal policy," the government official said.

A committee appointed by the ministry of power, energy, and mineral resources submitted a draft coal policy to the government last week for approval.

"Bangladesh is facing a recognised shortage of energy and power and the situation is worsening, ... and coal-fired power stations are being seriously discussed by the government and people," said Gary Lye, chief executive officer of the Asia Energy Corp (Bangladesh).

Bangladesh faces a power deficit of up to 2,000 MW against demand of 5,000 MW daily, energy officials said.

Frequent power failures cut the country's gross domestic product by around $1.0 billion annually, the World Bank said, and would need $10 billion invested over the next 10 years to overcome the shortages.

Asian Development Bank had said they would assist the authorities to build power plants to generate 2,000 MW at Phulbari.

"Before financing to a major power station, one needs to have a fuel supply guarantee. With the plus 35 years life span of the Phulbari Coal Project, Asia Energy is in a position to offer such a guarantee," Lye told Reuters.

Asia Energy mining company is lining up an offer to invest $3.0 billion in a Bangladesh coal project, which can produce 15 million tonnes of coal a year and can give the state $7.8 billion in revenues over 30 years, Lye said.

"We are ready to start work as soon as we receive green signal from the authority," he added.

During the feasibility study in 2004-2005, Asia Energy drilled 108 holes and defined resource of 572 million tonnes of high quality coal at the Phulbari coal basin project.

The current coal reserve in the country's five coal-fields is around 2.55 billion tonnes, including Phulbari, officials said.

Experts said gas reserves in the country were fast depleting, so its power plants should be coal-based.

(US$1 = 68.58 taka)

 

DHAKA, Jul 23, 2009 (AsiaPulse via COMTEX) -- MRLS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- About 800 megawatts of fresh electricity would be added to Bangladesh's national power grid by this yearend, said the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, as they discussed a vast recipe for tapping potential in this sector.

Briefing newsmen at the Media Centre in the Parliament complex about the outcome of Wednesday's meeting, M Subid Ali Bhuiyan said 330-MW electricity would be generated between September and November.

A 120-MW power plant would be operated in September and another 120-MW in October at Sidhirganj while a 90-MW one in November at Fenchuganj in Sylhet, he said.

He informed that 33,000 illegal electricity connections have been disconnected across the country in a special drive from July 1 to 16, under a crash course for tackling a nagging electricity crisis in the country.

Subid said they suggested in the meeting disconnecting the illegal connections in the presence of magistrates as well as carrying out massive campaign through mass media to inform people about the snapping of illegal power lines.

He said the meeting recommended introducing National Coal Policy as soon as possible for utilization of coal in production of electricity to meet a growing demand for electricity.

The parliamentarians also recommended the government take effective initiative for generating electricity from wind and solar power as alternative sources of energy.

In this regard, he said, offers are coming from many foreign countries for production of wind and solar power. A Swedish company has offered to generate 400-MW electricity using wind.

The standing committee chairman said they also discussed Madhyapara and Baropukuria hard-rock mine as well as wanted to know why the thermal power plant at Baropukuria is not being operated.

The meeting also inquired about the progress of investigation by a subcommittee into irregularities that had taken place in power sector during the last Bangladesh National Party (BNP) regime.

This was the fourth meeting of the Standing Committee on Power and Energy in the new parliament.

Chaired by Subid Ali Bhuiyan, the meeting was also attended by committee members State Minister for Power and Energy Shamsul Huq Tuku, Abdul Matin Khasru, M Abdul Kader Khan, Enamul Huq, Mojibur Rahman Fakir and Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh.