Editor

Fortnightly Magazine, Vol 15, Issue 23, May 16-31

Mollah M Amzad Hossain
Advisory Editor
Anwarul Islam Tarek
Mortuza Ahmad Faruque
International Editor
Dr. Nafis Ahmed
Contributing Editors
Saleque Sufi
Dr. A Rahman
Online Editor
GSM Shamsuzzoha (Nasim)
Managing Editor Despite encouraging progress in some countries’ energy sector, this year’s ‘Tracking
Afroza Hossain
SDG7: The Energy Progress Report,’ finds that overall progress toward the SDG7 (to
Magazine Administrator
AKM Shamsul Hoque
secure affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030) targets
Reporters
remains off track. The report, which assesses the status of renewable energy, energy
Arunima Hossain efficiency plus access to clean cooking and electricity, was launched at the fourth
Assistant Online Editor Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) Forum held this month in Lisbon, Portugal.
Aditya Hossain The Forum, which acts as a springboard for the UN stock take on Sustainable
Design & Graphics Development Goal 7, discussed elaborately the three SEforALL objectives: ensuring
Md. Monirul Islam
universal access to modern energy services; doubling the share of renewable
Photography
Bulbul Ahmed energy in the global energy mix; and doubling the global rate of improvement in
Production energy efficiency. The Forum left no doubt that the governments, many of them in
Mufazzal Hossain Joy Africa, are stepping up on leadership in advancing strategies and policies that will
Computer Graphics accelerate SDG7 gains. Supportive government policies and regulatory frameworks
Md. Uzzal Hossain
are critical — a point echoed by government ministers speaking about their gains on
Circulation Assistant energy access, energy efficiency and clean cooking.
Khokan Chandra Das
Editorial, News & Commercial
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41
Around 5,000 megawatt (MW)
of electricity could be saved in
five years if efficient use of elec-
tricity in domestic, commercial
and industrial sectors could be
ensured through introducing
standard energy-efficient appli-
ances. About US$ 5 billion in-
vestment would be required to
generate 5,000MW of electric-
ity said Engr. Nurul Aktar, Di-
rector of Energypac, in an
exclusive interview with EP.
19
Bangladesh appears to have
adopted leapfrog strategy for
achieving sustainable energyse-
curity towards achieving national
vision for mid-income country by
2021 and developed country by
2041. The bottom line is to ensur-
ing quality power and energy
supply to all at affordable price in
an environment-friendly manner.
From the power market size of
10,000 MW in mid-2018 to
24,000 MW in 2021, ...
9
Around one billion people or 13% of the
world’s population still live without elec-
tricity, and an estimated 674 million peo-
ple, mostly living in Sub-Saharan Africa,
will likely not have access to electricity by
2030. The world remains off track to meet
2030 energy targets at the current rate of
progress, but certain countries or trends re-
veal that progress is being made where po-
litical leadership and finance is being
prioritized. Renewable energy is making
impressive gains in the electricity sector, al-
though these are not being matched in ...
Encouraged by the readers and patrons, the EP would continue bringing
out Green Pages to contribute to the country’s efforts in its journey
towards environment-friendly energy.

33 10pc Electricity Should

Come from Renewable
Energy

35 Solar Power Changing

Lifestyle in Char Areas

35 Biogas Power Plant Sits

Idle

36 Over 10m People

Employed in Renewable
Energy Sector

5 WORLD WATCH Electric Buses to Bangladesh

Latest Development in
30 Power, Infrastructure to Get
World
Priority in Upcoming Budget:
6,8 SNAPSHOT Muhith
Latest Development
30 State Companies Propose
9 COVER Doubling Gas Price
SDG7 Not on Track
ARTICLE
SPECIAL ARTICLE 27 Quality Power Supply Still A
19 Mega Projects, Major Issues Far Cry

REPORT 29 Addressing Energy Trilemma

23 ‘Power Ministry to Be of Bangladesh
Paperless in 3 Years’
CLIMATE
23 Summit’s Gazipur Plant Starts 37 LDCs Call for Urgent Action at
Operation UN Climate Talks

24 ‘Greater Dev Hinges on 37 Climate Change May Make

Affordable Power’ 88pc Children Vulnerable

24 Rooppur Plant to Produce 38 Air Pollution Kills 7m Every

20pc Electricity: Experts Year

25 Govt Inks LNG Deal with 38 Cox's Bazar Civil Body Wants
Oman Fund to Restore Environment

25 Deal Signed with Chinese 39 Seven EU Countries Step Up

Firm for 1,320MW Plant Fight Against Climate Change

26 ‘Govt Plans Big for LNG: INTERVIEW

Nasrul 41 Engr. Nurul Aktar;
Director, Energypac
26 Indian Firm Eyes to Export
 Wo rl dwatc h
State-owned ONGC Sri Lanka raised liquefied pe-
ONGC Gas Output Up registered 6.3 per Sri Lanka Raises troleum gas (LPG) prices re-
6.3pc in FY18 cent increase in natu- LPG Price cently after a recent rise in
ral gas production in petroleum prices and the de-
2017-18 and is on preciation of the rupee currency made LPG imports more ex-
track to double the output by 2022, a top company official pensive.
said. The LPG price increase is the second in eight months.
It produced 23.484 billion cubic meters of gas in 2017-18 as The price of a widely used 12.5 kg LPG cylinder was raised
against 22.088 bcm in 2016-17, he said. by 17 percent to 1,676 rupees ($10.63) by both the state-
This is the highest gas output by Oil and Natural Gas Corp in owned LPG retailer and its only private competitor.
five years and the growth rate is higher than the global average The government increased the price of the same size cylinder
of 3-4 per cent year-on-year. by 8.3 percent in September last year.
ONGC has stepped up on bringing newer fields into produc- Since then the rupee currency has fallen 3 percent while
tion after Prime Minister Narendra Modi set a stiff target of re- global benchmark Brent crude futures have risen more than
ducing oil import dependence by 10 per cent by 2022. India 27 percent.
currently imports over 80 per cent of its oil needs.
The overall gas production, which includes production from
the joint ven-
tures, registered
a growth of 5.8
per cent at
24.610 bcm, as
against 23.270
bcm in the pre-
vious year.

The death toll from

Blast at Illegal Oil Well a blaze at an illegal R o y a l
Kills 18 in Indonesia Indonesian oil well Shell to Sell $3.3b Stake in D u t c h
recently jumped to
18 with dozens in-
Canadian Natural Resources Shell PLC
subsidiary
jured, authorities said, warning there could be yet more vic- Shell Gas BV has agreed to sell all its interest in oil sands pro-
tims. ducer Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.
Images from the accident showed a towering flame shooting The underwriting agreement with Goldman Sachs & Co., RBC
some 70 meters above homes and palm trees dotting a small Capital Markets, Scotiabank, and TD Securities includes the
community in Sumatra island's Aceh province. Several homes 97.6 million shares for total pretax proceeds of $3.3 billion.
were destroyed.
The sale, expected to be complete on May 9, is part of the
The victims were collecting oil from around the entrance of a company’s 3-year, $30-billion divestment program that in-
well bore when the blaze erupted, police said. cluded a March 2017 sale of a large portion of its Canadian
It was not known how much oil was spilled or what ignited oil sands interests for $7.5 billion.
the fire, but authorities suggested a lit cigarette as a possible
cause. Twenty-three people
Coal Mines Collapse were killed and 11
Kills 23 in Pakistan wounded after gas ex-
plosions tore through
two neighboring coal mines in Balochistan, Pakistan, officials
said recently. Provin-
cial mines minister
SalehBalochsaid that
all miners in both ac-
cidents had been ac-
counted for and
rescue operations
had ended.

May 16, 2018 5

 S naps ho t
The state-owned CNG refueling
Eastern Refinery Plans Eastern Refinery CNG Stations to Remain stations will re-
to Meet 75pc Fossil Fuel Limited (ERL) has Closed for Six Hrs During main closed for
planned to meet six hours from 5
Demand By 2021 75 per cent de- Ramadan pm to 11 pm
mand of fossil during the
fuel by 2021. month of Ramadan.
The company now has the capacity to refine 15 lakh metric This was decided at a meeting at Power Division with State
tonnes of fossil fuel that meets only 25 per cent demand of Minister for Power and Energy Nasrul Hamid in the chair.
the country. At present, the CNG stations remain closed from 5 - 9 pm.
The ERL has taken a project titled Installation of ERL Unit-2 The meeting asked the power distribution companies to check
spending Tk 17, 000 crore which slated to be completed by load shedding during iftar, tarabi prayer and shari period.
2021.
The meeting also advised all to keep the use of electricity at
The ERL will refine about 30 lakh metric tonnes of fossil with limited level, specially in decoration of market and shopping
the new project. Then, present ERL Unit-1 and the ERL unit-2 m a l l s
will have capacity to refine 45 lakh metric tonnes crude oil and also
that would be 75 per cent of the total demand of the country suspend
said Engr Md Ak- o p e r a-
terul Hoque, tion of
managing direc- steel and
tor of ERL, in a re-rolling
view exchanging mills dur-
meeting with re- ing the
porters marking peace
the 50 years of hours.
the ERL in the
port city recently. Bangla Trac
Bangla Trac Power Power Unit-1
Bangladeshi Firm Acquires Singapore - Added 200MW Electricity Ltd.’s ongoing
based Semb- power project,
17pc Stake in Sembcorp corp Indus- to National Grid built in Daud-
tries said kandi, Comilla,
for $12.8m recently that a has successfully added 200 MW of electricity to the national
state-owned grid on 24 April 2018, according to Power Development
power genera- Board (PDB) source. Now, Bangla Trac Power Unit-1 and
tion company in Unit-2 accumulated providing 300 MW of electricity to Na-
Bangladesh has tional Grid.
acquired a 17
About the work of Bangla Trac Group, to meet the increasing
per cent stake in
demand of electricity, the company Chairman Mohammad
S e m b c o r p
Aminul Haque said, “A fully dedicated team has been work-
North-West Power Company (SNWPC) for US$12.8 million.
ing hard to meet the increasing demand of electricity in
Sembcorp said that the state-owned company - North-West Bangladesh for a long time. We are really excited to success-
Power Generation Company (NWPGC) - made the equity in- fully add another 200 MW of electricity to national grid.”
jection at par value of SNWPC's shares. Bangla Trac Group’s Managing Director Tarique Ekramul
The remaining 83 per cent stake is owned by Sembcorp. Haque said, “We are happy to successfully run the Bangla
Trac Power Unit-1 Ltd.’s power plant. Accumulatedly, we are
SNWPC is a Sembcorp project company that is developing
now providing 300
the Sirajganj Unit 4 power project in Bangladesh and pro-
MW of electricity to
ceeds from the sale of the stake will be used by Sembcorp to
national grid. Our
fund the ongoing construction of the Sirajganj Unit 4 power
goal is to provide
plant.
electricity to every
NWPGC plans to make further equity injection by the end of part of the country
this year, which will result in SNWPC being 71 per cent and we will be
owned by Sembcorp and 29 per cent by NWPGC, Sembcorp working efficiently
said. to meet the goal.”

May 16, 2018 6

 S naps ho t
State Minister for State Minister for
1000 MW Power to Power, Energy Nasrul for Using Better Power, Energy and
Add to Nat’l Grid During and Mineral Re- Tech for Quick Service Mineral Resources
sources Nasrul Nasrul Hamid un-
Ramadan: Nasrul Hamid said derscored the need for better use of technology to provide
around 1,000 quick service.
MW of electricity would be added to the national grid during "It's time to research on artificial intelligence and use it how
the month of holy Ramadan. to get more electricity along with the energy sector," he said
"We are committed to ensure uninterrupted supply of electric- this, while inaugurating a training program as the chief guest
ity during the holy month of Ramadan as some 1,000 MW at Biddyut Bhaban in the capital.
power would be added to the national grid this month," he Bangladesh Power Management Institute organized the first
said while speaking as the chief guest at a view-exchange with training program on Project Formulation, Implementation,
the City's Shop Owners Association at Biddyut Bhaban in Monitoring and Evaluation. The state minister said, "No or-
Dhaka. ganization can improve without skilled and dedicated staffs.
The state minister some 10,986 MW power was generated in There is no alternative to training for increasing efficiency."
a day recently, while the generation capacity reached to He said Bangladesh Power Management Institute (BPMI) has
16,046 MW. The government is putting in its relentless efforts been formed to establish international standard training insti-
to ensure adequate power supply across the country, he tutes like IIT, AIT or MIT, adding, "A complete residential
added. (BPMI) would be established on 25 acres of land at Keraniganj
He also directed the Petrobangla authority to increase supply near the capital city."
of natural Chaired by Power Division Secretary Dr Ahmad Kaikaus, the
gas to 1,000 program was also addressed, among others, by Chairman of
m m c f d Bangladesh Power Development Board Engineer Khaled
from 950 Mahmood, Power Cell Director General Engineer Moham-
m m c f d mad Hossain and Rector (Additional Secretary) of BPMI M
aimed at Mahbub-Ul-Alam.
generating
electricity
smoothly.

Petromax LPG Limited has

Petromax Enters launched Petromax LPG to
LPG Market meet the growing energy de-
mand in Bangladesh, the
company said in a press statement.
Nasrul Hamid, state minister for power, energy and mineral
resources, was present as chief guest in the inaugural cere-
mony at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre
(BICC) in the capital recently.
On the occasion Rezakul Haider, chairman of Youth Group,
said Petromax LPG Limited has already set up a LPG filling
and bottling plant with total 6500MT storage facility. 5500MT
storage facility is at main terminal at Mongla and1000MT in
satellite plant in Rupganj, in the capital.
The cylinders will be available in 2 different sizes-12 and 35
Kg.
Petromax LPG
already en-
gaged 1 LPG
Berge and 6
Bulk LPG Road
Tanker, the
statement
added.
The country witnessed the
New Record in highest 10,137MW of elec-
Power Generation tricity recently, thanks to
commissioning several
diesel-fired power plants in the grid, officials confirmed.
“We have been able to produce 10,137MW of electricity at
11pm on Tuesday night,” Power Secretary Dr Ahmad Kaikaus
told reporters at his secretariat office.
He said the division is expecting 11000MW power generation
next month. The previous highest electricity generation was
10,084MW on March 19, 2018.
The electricity generation has increased by additional 500MW
less than a year, he said.
“About 9507MW of electricity was produced in October,
2017,” he said. Responding to frequent load shedding despite
rising electricity generation, he said, “I don’t say it is a load
shedding rather it is a systematic interruption due to rough
weather.”

May 16, 2018 8

C over

A
round one billion people or
13% of the world’s population
still live without electricity, and
an estimated 674 million people,
mostly living in Sub-Saharan Africa,
will likely not have access to electric-
ity by 2030. The world remains off
track to meet 2030 energy targets at
the current rate of progress, but certain
countries or trends reveal that progress
is being made where political leader-
ship and finance is being prioritized.
Renewable energy is making impres-
sive gains in the electricity sector, al-
though these are not being matched in
transportation and heating — which to-
gether account for 80% of global en-
ergy consumption.

May 16, 2018 9

A new study on progress of Sustainable
Development Goal (SDG) 7 (to secure
affordable, reliable, sustainable and
modern energy for all by 2030) revealed
the picture as a publication on the re-
search was released at the fourth Sus-
tainable Energy for All (SEforALL) Forum
convened from 2-3 May 2018 in Lisbon,
Portugal. The new ‘Tracking SDG7: The
Energy Progress Report,’ which bench-
marks annual progress toward achieving
the SDG 7 targets that directly relate to
the SEforALL objectives. Despite en-
couraging progress in some countries
and energy sectors, the 2018 report
finds that overall progress toward the
SDG 7 targets remains off track. The re-
port, which assesses the status of renew-
able energy, energy efficiency plus
access to clean cooking and electricity,
was launched at the two-day Forum.
Under the overarching theme of ‘Leav-
ing No One Behind,’ approximately 900
representatives from government, busi-
ness, civil society and international or-
ganizations highlighted the latest
evidence of progress on SDG 7. Partici-
pants met in 18 Partner Working Ses-
sions, designed and organized by
SEforALL partners, to catalyze action on
Rachel Kyte, SEforALL CEO and Special Representative of the UN Secretary­General for Sustainable Energy for All (center), and participants at the end of
the Forum
specific issues that will enable progress
on SDG7. A range of stakeholders ad-
dressed specific energy access issues
and scalable innovations needed to
achieve the three SEforALL objectives:
ensuring universal access to modern en-
ergy services; doubling the share of re-
newable energy in the global energy
mix; and doubling the global rate of im-
provement in energy efficiency.
The Forum acts as a springboard for the
UN stock take on Sustainable Develop-
ment Goal 7 in July, where progress on
achieving universal energy access and
clean cooking will be measured during
the High-Level Political Forum.
Taking stock on SDG7 progress, the
Forum was told that if Rwanda and
Bangladesh can achieve exponential
growth in off-grid renewables in just a
few years, why can’t other countries in
Africa and Asia? If Portugal can achieve
100 percent renewable energy, why
can’t other advanced economies?
This was the reaction to the Tracking
SDG7: The Energy Progress Report re-
leased at the Forum’s opening session.
While the data shows significant chal-
lenges in meeting 2030 goals, it also
contained some bright spots on energy
efficiency, energy access and renewable
energy.
Among the positive trends: the primary
energy intensity of the global economy
improved at a faster 2.8% pace in 2015;
for the first time in all regions of the
world, electricity access grew faster than
population growth; in Bangladesh and
Mongolia, energy access gains were
nearly 10 percent. Far more sobering
was the report’s clean cooking access
figures as well as slow progress in many
Sub-Saharan African countries on all of
the SDG7 objectives.
The slow uptake of clean cooking tech-
nologies was highlighted, as is the less-
than-hoped for increase in energy
efficiency and renewables. Discussions
focused on the implications of these
data on the ground and addressed re-
maining challenges and unmet needs.
The discussions also focused on innova-
tive solutions that can help deliver
change at the speed and scale required
to achieve SDG 7. The forum sought to
close the energy gap and ensure the in-
clusion of women and the poor in the
universal access to sustainable energy
May 16, 2018 11
L­R: Elizabeth Littlefield, Albright Stonebridge Group; Gale Rigobert, Minister for Education, Innovation, Gender Relations and Sustainable Development,
Saint Lucia; Leonardo Beltran Rodriguez, Deputy Secretary for Energy Planning and Transition, Mexico; Germaine Kamayirese, Minister for Energy, Water
and Sanitation, Rwanda; Masamichi Kono, Deputy Secretary­General, OECD; and João Pedro Matos Fernandes, Minister of Environment, Portugal
services. To underpin the urgency
needed in addressing the energy access
gap, the report showed that the world
will not meet 2030 energy targets at the
current rate of progress.
The United Nations (UN) Secretary
General, António Guterres, in a video
address, called for partnerships to ad-
dress the global energy challenges.
“From industry to transportation, city to
rural areas, it is time to end the age of
fossil fuel, a lot more needs to
be done to drive efficient re-
newable energy in all these
sectors,” he said. He added
that embracing technology in
the change chain was neces-
sary in achieving the “access
for all” goal in line with the
United Nations Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs).
“Let us invest in the future, not
the past."
The Chief Executive Officer
and Special Representative to
the UN on Sustainable Energy
Forum (SEForAll), Ms Rachel
Kyte, said collaboration was
key in the transformative global
energy process in the years
ahead. “We are making
progress, but at a slow pace,
and we have to double our ef-
forts by raising ambitions on
the basis to show knowledge
that it can be done,” she
added. The CEO called on the
Forum to use this latest data as António Mexia, CEO, EDP, and Administrative Board Chair, SEforALL
a reality check of the challenge ahead.
"Countries cannot afford to leave entire
generations behind when there are so-
lutions that deliver affordable, clean en-
ergy services today."
Various commitments and new partner-
ships were announced under the cam-
paign, ‘Shine: Investing in Energy
Access for All,’ in which 35 philanthro-
pists, faith leaders and private capital or-
ganizations have committed to
advancing clean energy access.
The World Bank Group committed $1.3
billion to support a global energy access
drive for the 2018 fiscal year, the Head
of Energy and Extractive Industries
Global Practices at the Bank, Mr Ric-
cardo Puliti, has said. The figure is an
increase from the previous $300 million
from the bank into the energy sector on
an annual basis over the last five years.
According to Mr Puliti, although the re-
ality of clean cooking tech-
nologies is catching up in
recent years, access is, how-
ever, barely picking up with
population growth and for the
developing community and
“this is not acceptable.”
Kenya, Mr Puliti emphasized,
had made remarkable gains in
recent years through a realistic
approach which included grid
and off-grid electrification, de-
velopment of renewable en-
ergy resources, strengthening
the transmission and distribu-
tion systems and promotion of
solar borne systems.
New commitments from IKEA
Foundation, Wallace Global
Fund, the World Evangelical
Alliance and Brahma Kumaris
were announced. Businesses
also showed continued sup-
port to investing into energy
access, with CEOs and execu-
tives from ABB, ENGIE, Mas-
terCard and Schneider
May 16, 2018 12
Electric, all participating. EDP
CEO, Antiono Mexia, was a
Forum key note speaker, refer-
encing the company’s recent
three-year goal of investing
€12 million in access to energy
companies operating in Africa,
complemented by philan-
thropic activities worth €1 mil-
lion that will benefit 200,000
people.
SEforALL also announced a
new Delivery Partnership
agreement with Total S.A., the
multinational French oil com-
pany. Total will support several
areas of SEforALL’s work, in-
cluding its Electrification Ac-
celerator network, its Cooling
for All initiative aimed at en-
suring universal access to re-
frigeration and other cooling
technologies, and expanding
global access to clean cooking
fuels and technologies. SE-
forALL will also work with the
company to engage the power
industry to achieve stronger in-
tegration of both grid and off-grid elec-
trification projects.
The Islamic Development Bank singed
a partnership agreement with Sustain-
able Energy for All to launch the Middle
East Hub to be hosted at the Islamic De-
velopment Bank Headquarters in Jed-
dah, Saudi Arabia. The Middle East
L­R: Bessem Enonchong, Country Director­Cameroon, Global LPG Partnership; Hajia Alima Mahama, Minister for Local Government and RuralDevelopment,
Ghana; Greg Murray, CEO, KOKO Networks; Eric Reynolds, CEO, Inyenyeri; Dymphna van der Lans, CEO, Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves; Carola van
Rijnsoever, Director of Inclusive Green Growth and Ambassador for Sustainable Development, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Netherlands; and Rachel Kyte,
SEforALL CEO and Special Representative of the UN Secretary­General for Sustainable Energy for All
Fernando Medina, Mayor of Lisbon
Hub will raise awareness at the national
and regional level of the challenges,
constrains and opportunities available
while achieving the three core objec-
tives of SDG7. The Hub will serve as a
platform for the Middle East region for
technology and knowledge transfer in
light of the major milestones achieved
in providing renewable energy solutions
at competitive prices and high
reliability.
Hosted by Sustainable Energy
for All (SEforALL), the two-day
Forum opened on May 2 with
the urge to global leaders that
more can be done to ensure no
one is left behind in an energy
transition focused on deliver-
ing SDG 7. The Forum is ad-
dressing the key challenges in
delivering universal energy ac-
cess to the billion people glob-
ally who are still living without
basic modern energy services,
including electricity and clean
cooking access.
The 4th SEforALL Forum fo-
cused on innovative solutions
that can help deliver change at
the speed and scale needed to
meet SDG 7, urging to show-
case innovative solutions and
opportunities to achieve scale
and action across the various
energy sectors. It also
prompted announcement of
new pledges and new partnerships,
such as the Shine Campaign, a group of
35 philanthropists, faith leaders, and pri-
vate capital organizations committed to
advancing energy access.
The Forum closed on May 3 with sense
of urgency to get the world back on
track to meet the SDG 7. Faster progress
May 16, 2018 13

is possible on global energy goals, but
only with greater political ambition and
discipline, as the key takeaway of dele-
gates.
During the event, key themes that
emerged included how more develop-
ing countries are seizing the opportunity
of energy efficiency by putting it as a
central pillar to energy strategies to
manage the energy demand they need
to meet.
Cooling for All
Explaining that cooling touches many
aspects of life, including health, food
and comfort, panelists elaborated on the
strain that increased demand will create
on achieving clean energy and climate
goals. Focusing on solutions, they called
for a stepwise approach that combines
existing low-emission, low-global
warming potential, high-efficiency tech-
nology with the current opportunity cre-
ated by the sale of thousands of vaccine
cold chains and millions of new refrig-
erators.
The discussions underscored the impor-
tance of making energy efficiency the
first priority. Stressing that maintenance
can greatly improve efficiency, panelists
noted the lack of skilled labor in the sec-
tor, and called for education for con-
sumers and the workforce. One panelist
also noted that sensor technology can
pinpoint maintenance and problems as
they arise. Another added that while
new technology can be helpful, often
existing technology simply needs to be
Announcement of the Shine campaign
adapted to on-the-ground realities. Oth-
ers addressed the need to reduce de-
mand, noting that many buildings are
overcooled, creating both discomfort
and health impacts.
Discussing ways to overcome barriers,
one panelist listed challenges as high
taxes on product components, high
prices and slow market transformation.
Highlighting the intersections with pub-
lic health in terms of negative effects (air
pollution) and positive impacts (refriger-
ation for medicines), one panelist called
for using the health argument to stimu-
late private sector investment.
The challenges of keeping cooling con-
stant, for instance from the production
of a vaccine to its administration at the
‘last mile.’ The speakers highlighted the
need for energy efficiency, collecting
and using data, looking at the cooling
chain holistically and garnering feed-
back. They concluded that new busi-
ness models are required to capture the
real needs of the sector.
On appliances, speakers noted that sat-
isfying the huge unmet global demand
requires addressing needs across the
value chain. The contribution of district
cooling solutions in reducing energy de-
mand in cities, especially when com-
bined with thermal storage, was
highlighted. They cited data showing
that centralizing cooling can lead to
30% reductions in energy costs, create
investment opportunities in renewables
and significantly reduce the use of pol-
luting refrigerants, as shown in case
studies from Paris and Colombia.
Noting that large data centers consume
huge amounts of energy to cool down
their equipment, one speaker high-
lighted the need for specific research
and knowledge exchange to enhance
sustainable energy use in this sector.
Discussing some of the issues emerging
from these new technologies, partici-
pants noted that like any utility, district
cooling requires a regulatory frame-
work, which will need to be based on
comprehensive planning, as well as the
formulation of targets to raise political
visibility and attract private sector par-
ticipation.
IEA projections show that fully meeting
the demand for cooling would lead to a
massive jump in energy use. Disruptive
technologies will be required to address
such demand in a sustainable way.
Getting Real on Clean Cooking
Static progress on access to clean cook-
ing fuels and technologies was the most
sobering trend by far in the SDG7
progress report. The clean cooking ac-
cess deficit is still stuck at about 3 bil-
lion, with gains from 2014 to 2016
negligible gains and only 59 percent of
the global population with access to
clean cooking. “If we keep up this pace,
we’ll only reach 73 percent by 2030.
That’s unacceptable,” said Dr. Maria
Neira, Director of Public Health and the
Environment, at the World Health Or-
ganization.
May 16, 2018 14
L­R: Sheila Oparaocha, ENERGIA; Ana Victoria Rojas, Global Gender Office, IUCN; Monica Maduekwe, ECREEE; Karin Reiss, SACREEE; Iliyana Arnaudova,
RCREEE; and Ellen Morris, President and Founder, Sustainable Energy Solutions

No doubt, new, more collaborative Dymphna van der Lans, CEO of the traditional and mobile money financing
strategies are needed, country by coun- Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves. that would enable them to acquire
try. And all cooking fuels — whether bio- “This market is not off-grid solar. It home solar systems or clean cooking so-
mass pellets, ethanol or LPG — need to needs to have a sense of humility.” lutions.
be on the table as a scalable solution.
Simply put, Kyte noted, investing in At an interactive lunch on gender inclu-
“We need lots of solutions. There is no
clean cooking is investing in “smarter sive investing, Calvert Impact Capital
silver bullet,” Kyte said.
energy.” highlighted two key opportunities for
A case in point is Cameroon, which is enhancing women’s role: first, because
Leveraging Women’s Role
pursuing an ambitious national strategy women are more apt to live in energy
Gender diversity and women’s empow-
based primarily on LPG cookstoves. It poverty then men, targeting them in in-
erment in the SDG7 movement came
has doubled its clean cooking numbers vestment strategies will have a bigger
up time and time again. A new report
since 2006 and about 20 percent of the impact; second, Calvert found its invest-
produced by SEforALL and ENERGIA,
population is now using LPG stoves; by ments perform better when it uses a
Levers of Change, provides evidence of
2030, it hopes to be at 50 percent. gender lens.
how women are often not given an
Ghana is also pushing a national strat- equal chance to take advantage of sus- The expansion underway of off-grid and
egy based on sustainable biomass and tainable energy opportunities, such as mini-grid energy access solutions pres-
LPG. ents new op-
The interna- portunities to
tional funding close gender
community and social in-
also needs to clusion gaps by
step up in sup- reaching those
porting coun- not served by
tries with the the grid. With
biggest clean improving tech-
cooking access nology and in-
gaps. “There’s a creasing scale,
massive oppor- energy services
tunity to create are becoming
big markets for less expensive
clean cooking and consumer
fuels,” Kyte financing pack-
said. ages from DRE
companies help
“Funding needs to put connec-
to be incredibly tions within
patient,” added Winners of the ‘Voices of a Brighter Future’ journalism competition reach. Mobile

May 16, 2018 15

 Panelists during the session on: Energizing Finance: Barriers and Opportunities to Unlock Finance for Energy Access
money and other digital innovations can
be leveraged to propel women’s access
to off-grid and clean cooking solutions,
as well as their entrepreneurship.
Sustainable Energy in Humanitarian
Settings
With displaced populations increasing
worldwide, the urgency for providing
clean energy and clean cooking solu-
tions at refugee camps and other hu-
manitarian settings is growing. “They
come, and they are welcome, but we
need to provide for them,” said the Hon.
Simon D’Ujanga, Uganda’s Minister of
the State of Energy, which has 1.5 mil-
lion refugees, most of whom rely on
local firewood for cooking.”
In a packed session, government lead-
ers, UN officials, foundations and civil
society pledged to work together to ac-
celerate gains to bring clean affordable
energy to humanitarian settings. Every-
one agreed that replicating success sto-
ries, such as solar plants that are now
powering two refugee camps in Jordan,
is an imperative. “We’re still not being
serious on this. What difference will you
make between now and the end of the
year and how can we hold ourselves ac-
countable?” said Andrew Harper, direc-
tor of the Division of Program Support
and Management at UNHCR, the UN
refugee agency.
With the growing crisis of displaced per-
sons, humanitarian agencies can deliver
improved service to residents by shifting
away from reliance on expensive diesel-
generated power toward renewable-
powered electricity and by providing
clean cooking solutions to pre-empt the
need for residents to collect firewood.
The report also looks closely at how
these trends are playing out and being
handled in five key countries — Nigeria
and Tanzania in Africa, Bangladesh and
Myanmar in Asia and Haiti in the
Caribbean — which all face significant
energy access challenges.
Conclusion
“As we take stock of progress towards
the global goal on sustainable energy,
this latest data clearly shows more ac-
tion and political leadership is needed
if we are to live up to our promise to
leave no one behind,” said Rachel Kyte,
CEO of Sustainable Energy for All. “To
meet 2030 targets, we must make every
unit of energy work harder. We need to
increase investment in the technologies
and business models that make electric-
ity access affordable for everyone, place
even bigger bets on the remarkable ca-
pacity of renewable energy and build
big markets for clean fuels and cooking
access. World leaders put the promise
of leaving no one behind at the heart of
the Sustainable Development Goals,
and now is the time for that promise to
become reality.”
Among the examples that emerged:
Rwanda committed to reduce — from 83
percent to 42 percent — the percentage
of its population cooking with tradi-
tional biomass fuels by 2024. Uganda
and the Smart Communities Coalition
agreed to work together to bring clean
cooking and other sustainable energy
solutions to the country’s growing
refugee population. Somalia is hosting a
multi-stakeholder meeting Friday in Lis-
bon to advance its efforts to run its econ-
omy on clean energy. Togo committed
to 60 percent of new power connec-
tions by 2030, largely provided by the
private sector.
The Forum left no doubt that the gov-
ernments, many of them in Africa, are
stepping up on leadership in advancing
strategies and policies that will acceler-
ate SDG7 gains. “We now have a truly
global leadership cohort of countries
that have really ambitious plans and
have set aggressive targets. We now
have that with countries such as
Bangladesh, Kenya and Rwanda,” Kyte
said.
Supportive government policies and
regulatory frameworks are critical — a
point echoed by a half-dozen govern-
ment ministers speaking about their
gains on energy access, energy effi-
ciency and clean cooking.
(Photo & info courtesy: IISD Reporting
Services)
EP
May 16, 2018 16
 S p ec ial Ar t ic l e
Mega Projects, Major Issues
Saleque Sufi
B
angladesh appears to have
adopted leapfrog strategy for
achieving sustainable energy secu-
rity towards achieving national vision for
mid-income country by 2021 and devel-
oped country by 2041. The bottom line
is to ensuring quality power and energy
supply to all at affordable price in an en-
vironment-friendly manner. From the
power market size of 10,000 MW in
mid-2018 to 24,000 MW in 2021,
40,000 MW in 2030 and 60,000 MW in
2041 would be a paradigm shift. One
must carefully assess the issues and chal-
lenges and be pragmatic and realistic.
Does Bangladesh have the stomach to
digest all impacts of imported fuel de-
pendency? Can it arrange the billions of
dollars of funding for implementing all
infrastructures for coal and LNG import?
Can the domestic industries, which
mostly rely on low priced energy and
power, remain competitive with much
higher priced power and energy from
expensive fuel? Does Bangladesh have
or can grow required number of skilled,
semi-skilled and unskilled human re-
sources within time to manage the huge
infrastructure and facilities? The plan-
ning and aggressive mission definitely
needs courage but implementing mis-
sion requires re-
quired capacity
for embracing all
challenges.
The mission
Bangladesh for de-
velopment of
mega energy and
power projects
may get severely
affected for lack of
required skills and
efficiency of tech-
nical and manage-
rial skills. The
programs of re-
quired capacity
development of
human capital
Procurement of Preparatory Work For Power Plant And Port Facilities Under Matarbari Ultra Super Critical
have not pro- Coal­Fired Power Project
duced required number of skilled man-
power to mastermind and spearhead
planning, designing, engineering, imple-
mentation management and operation
of so many imported coal-based ultra-
super critical technology adopting large
coal-fired power projects. So many
mega energy and power projects are def-
initely going to be paradigm shift for
Bangladesh energy and power sector.
We are unsure whether Bangladesh is
ready or not. In almost 10 years of the
consecutive two terms of the present
government, required infrastructure
could not be created for utilizing the
16,000 MW plus power generation ca-
pacity. The highest generation possible
was a little over 10,000 MW during the
peak hours of a day. Only a little over 1
Tcf new gas could be added to the na-
tional grid but over 8 tcf gas from proven
reserve was consumed from 2009-2018.
The 3.2 billion tonnes proven reserve of
superior quality coal remains mostly
unutilized. Bangladesh is in a maze how
to explore the vast untapped petroleum
resources in the deep water of the Bay
of Bengal. Power generation continues
to suffer from serious crisis of fuel supply,
capacity constraints of transmission and
distribution system. Gas grid suffers from
poor maintenance of gas grid and ineffi-
cient management of gas transmission
infrastructure development.
In this backdrop, national energy secu-
rity is getting uncertain and vulnerable
for planned almost exclusive import de-
pendency of primary fuel (LNG & Coal).
Volatile global energy market would def-
initely create uncertain price impacts.
Regional and global geopolitics can im-
pact upon supply chain management.
Bangladesh does not have facilities or
would not be in a position to set up stor-
age facilities for coal and LNG for 3-6
months to sustain any event of fuel sup-
ply chain disruptions. We are not sure if
Bangladesh is going to have the right
fuel mix for energy generation towards
achieving sustainable energy security.
Present Scenario
Ten years of a democratic government
over two consecutive terms is about to
be completed soon. True, there has been
significant milestone achieved in power
generation. From a huge crisis prone sit-
uation, the situation in power grid im-
proved a lot. From mere 3,000 MW
actual supply to over 10,000 MW is a re-
markable achievement. Gas production
has also increased from 1,700 MMCFD
to 2,700 MMCFD. But impressive GDP
growth of over 6.5-7% annually has out-
paced the growth of power and energy
sector. Bangladesh has failed to diversify
fuel mix. About 62% dependence on de-
pleting natural gas has created gas
famine in gas
franchise area.
Political dilemma
has kept discov-
ered coal re-
s o u r c e
underground.
Poor planning,
bureaucracy
dominated mis-
management
failed to achieve
momentum in tra-
ditional fuel
based (gas and
coal) baseload
power plants de-
velopment. De-
pendency on
imported liquid
May 16, 2018 19
fuel-based contingency plants has
grown above 40%. In the current
volatile global fuel market, this depend-
ency has already created panic.
Power Projects
All mega coal-fired power projects are
running 3-4 years behind schedule. Coal
import program (sourcing coal and firm-
ing long term supply contracts) appears
dodgy. Coal transportation remains an
issue as Bangladesh has only Matarbari
South available for a reliable coal port
development. About 12,000 MW coal
power generation plants are planned for
Matarbari Moheshkhali area in anticipa-
tion of a Coal Transshipment Terminal
(CTT) of 40 million tonnes capacity at
Matarbari. Right now, the Matarbari
Coal Port Development for 2X1,200
MW JICA-assisted power plants appears
to be on the right track. The 14-Km long
240-meter wide and 18.5-meter draft
port connecting channel at Matarbari
may be ready by 2021 if present mo-
mentum is maintained. Arranging re-
quired funding for the CTT at Matarbari
is still uncertain. In this scenario, it is not
sure how many of the planned coal-fired
power plants would finally go ahead if
government do not start mining its own
coal adopting the technically appropri-
ate mining technology and develop coal
transportation facility by rail from mine
mouth to power plants. In Australia, we
witness coal being transported over 350-
400 Km by railway.
Coal transportation for
Rampal Power Plant
and power plants at
Payra would have to
huddle across similar
issues. Carrying coal
by mother vessels, an-
choring them at deep
water and transship-
ment in smaller ves-
sels can be an ideal
solution for large
power plants. Mon-
soon turbulence of
Bay of Bengal would
not allow transship-
ment for more than 7
months. Coal power
plants may not have
storage facilities for
more than 3 months. We are sure
whether all these are factored in plan-
ning of large imported coal power
plants.
Exploiting Own Coal
We hope our policy makers have started
realizing the huge risks and challenges
of primary fuel import especially the is-
sues of coal port and LNG terminal de-
velopment and price impacts. Own coal
still remains the most viable, technically
and financially the best option. None
has possibly read the very authentic fea-
sibility study reports prepared by accred-
ited mining consultants attached with
Scheme of Development (SOD) of Phul-
bari Mining Project. All issues ranging
from Farming Land Rehabilitation, Mine
Water (subsurface and Surface Water
Management), Relocation and Rehabili-
tation of Mine affected Community have
been very precisely and professionally
addressed. Barapukuria and Phulbari are
the most ideal candidates for modern
open cut mining. The government-ap-
pointed high-powered committee had
also recommended for pilot open pit
mining at Barapukuria North and re-
viewing the feasibility reports of Phulbari
Mine by third party. But all those docu-
ments are gathering dust. There is no
problem in going for mining from Kha-
laspeer and Dighipara adopting the right
mining method.
We apprehend finding no other options
the government would eventually go for
mining. Nothing but mining properly
Batching plant area of Payra power plant
and setting up 5,000-10,000 MW mine-
mouth power plants can secure the im-
mediate future of power supply for
Bangladesh.
Exploring Petroleum Resources
The government lost a trick. If it could
engage competent IOCs through trans-
parent PSC block bidding in 2009-2010
in onshore frontier areas, by this time
there was more than a chance of discov-
ering 5 Tcf new gas at least. Instead con-
servative Bangladesh relying exclusively
of capacity hamstrung BAPEX could dis-
cover few marginal gas fields, most of
which are on the verge of depletion.
Four potential blocks in greater Chit-
tagong could not be exploited. BAPEX is
struggling to even executing 25% of its
planned 108 wells development pro-
gram. GAZPROM engaged through con-
troversial process cannot even assist
BAPEX in achieving the target.
The situation in offshore exploration is
more pathetic. PSC document could not
be updated for fresh round of bidding in
deep water over the last 5 years. Santos
and Kris Energy JV are working in some
blocks and ONGC in some other blocks.
Fresh PSC could be signed with DAE-
WOO POSCO. Australian Energy Giant
Woodside Petroleum has submitted a
proposal for 5 deep water blocks. Wood-
side is working right across Myanmar
offshore. Unfortunately, no new offshore
gas could be added over the past two
terms of the present government. The
government initiative for engaging sur-
veyor for multi-client
survey fall flat for en-
ergy mafia interven-
tions. The syndicate
also tried to influence
policymakers for un-
necessary purchase of
ship for conducting
survey. In any case,
the offshore explo-
ration has fallen so far
behind that nothing
extraordinary can be
expected adding to
fuel supply in less than
7-9 years.
LNG Import
The LNG import
initiative adopted in
May 16, 2018 20
2010 through setting up FSRU at Ma-
heshkhali took ridiculously 8 years to
reach the present state of Exceelerate-
owned and operated FSRU with LNG
from Qatar anchoring 7 Km into deep
water. The onshore platform and its
hook up with submerged pipeline on the
sea side and CTMS of GTCL on the other
side do not appear have firm-footed pipe
support. Hope these do not cause issues
in tidal surge and cyclone-prone area.
The first FSRU has the capacity for de-
livering 500 MMCFD RLNG to GTCL
pipeline from Moheshkhali to Anwara
CGS from where it will be delivered to
Chittagong Ring Main of KGDCL and
later to National Gas Grid through An-
wara — Faujdarhat under implementa-
tion pipeline. The Moheshkhali
—Anwara 90 Km 30 inches diameter
transmission pipeline at 1,000 PSI pres-
sure has capacity for evacuating 700
MMCFD gas. But in the present situa-
tion, it would not be possible evacuating
more than 250 -300 MMCFD to KGDCL
system. Anwara CGS to Ring Main con-
nected at 20 inches dia segment can
take 250MMCFD only. EP earlier recom-
mended for construction of spur line to
KAFCO, CUFL and power plants at
Shikalbaha. These could take 120-150
MMCFD.
Most importantly, until construction of
28 Km long 42 inches diameter Anwara
—Faujdarhat pipeline, no gas can be in-
jected to national gas grid. The construc-
tion of this pipeline is suffering from
ROW Problem, late supply of long de-
livery pipeline items. Moreover, HDD
crossing of Karnaphuli river has devel-
oped technical problem. Drill strings
while carrying out 36 inches reaming of
drilled hole got broken. Subject to suc-
cessfully retrieving the string, the
pipeline would be completed. Other-
wise, this pipeline construction would
be delayed by a year or more.
Bangladesh would have to count take or
pay penalty to FSRU operator.
The second FRSU operator Summit can-
not deliver more than 150-200 MMCFD
of RLNG to GTCL system before end
2019 or early 2020. The 42 inches par-
allel pipeline of GTCL cannot be con-
structed before middle to late 2019. Few
other FSRU and land-based LNG termi-
nals would take longer than anticipated
time for implementation.
Capacity Constraints
There is no wonder that the energy and
power sector mega projects have reached
such diabolic state. The governance of
the sector has reached a very poorly co-
ordinated stage. There is no coordination
among various levels of policymakers.
Advisor to Prime Minister, SDG Coordi-
nator, State Minister of Energy, Secretaries
of Concerned divisions are not seeing
eye-to-eye about many issues. SoEs are
interfered in their day to day operation.
BERC is ignored. The required capacity
development program not appears to be
riding on the right track.
Bangladesh does not have a national
standard for designing coal-fired power
plant. Several development partners Chi-
nese, Indian, Japanese, Koreans may
adopt different standards in boiler and
equipment design. Bangladesh does not
have required capacity to effectively
monitor their works. For large coal-fired
power plants, Bangladesh must select
the type of coal (heating value and com-
position) first for designing boiler and
equipment. We heard the talks about
blending Indonesian and Australian
coal. Who will monitor this blending?
Why not blending coal import and a cer-
tain heating value coal specified?
World standard for a 1,200 -1,320 MW
coal-fired power plant (sub critical, super
critical or ultra-super critical technology)
requires 300 qualified and trained man-
power. For Bangladesh having zero ex-
perience of operating Ultra Super Critical
technology using coal power plant, the
number would be 500 persons each
plant -- 10 such plants makes it 5,000
trained skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled
manpower. Some persons should have
been ready by now as plant developers
have started engineering and designing.
Bangladesh must adopt an aggressive ca-
pacity development program. The prior-
ities should be for Payra, Ramapal and
Matarbari plants as these are at advanced
stages. If the training programs start now,
by 2020 at least 2,000 trained manpower
would be ready.
Manpower for RLNG Utilization
RLNG would be traded on heating value
and Wobbe Index. RPGCL, GTCL and
gas distribution companies must have
required number of trained professionals
equipped with knowledge of energy me-
tering, calibration of energy meters and
chromatographs. RPGCL must have re-
sources for managing LNG procurement
process. RPGCL and GTCL as well as
operation management of FSRU and
land based terminals. Several persons so
far have attended workshops, seminars
and visited LNG facilities. But it is the
time that right persons are trained in
right facilities.
Years of poor planning, mismanagement
and corruptions have led Bangladesh
energy and power sector reaching the
present stage of incompetence. The gov-
ernment did nothing wrong in going for
mega projects. But without assessing the
own capacity and without doing exten-
sive techno-economic feasibility studies,
adoption of so many mega power and
energy projects has put the sector to se-
rious challenges. For achieving the na-
tional visions energy and power sector
needs reinvigorating. Policymakers must
review governance process and imple-
mentation status of each mega project
and take care of extensive capacity de-
velopment. Fuel mix options must also
be reviewed. Own coal must be ex-
ploited as soon as possible. Aggressive
campaign must be launched without
delay for deep water exploration. There
must not be any delay waiting for multi-
client survey. Major IOCs won’t rely on
Bangladesh data in any case for risking
multi-billion dollars investment in deep
water exploration gamble. A workshop
in Dhaka should be organized during
the tenure of the current term of the gov-
ernment to discuss all aspects of model
production sharing contract. Interested
IOCs, international banks, development
partners and experienced NRB resource
persons may be invited. The PSC docu-
ment may be updated as far as practica-
ble, making it win-win for all.
Bangladesh needs balanced fuel mix for
long term energy security — supplying
energy and power to all at affordable
cost.
EP
Saleque Sufi;
Contributing Editor, EP
May 16, 2018 21
 Repo r t
Summit’s Gazipur Plant Starts
Operation
T he second unit of Summit
power plant in Gazipur
recently started supplying
electricity to the national grid
commercially.
The 300-megawatt (MW) fur-
nace-oil fired power plant is
owned by the consortium of
Summit Corporation Ltd and
Summit Power Ltd having the
stakes of 80 per cent and 20
per cent respectively.
The '100 hour Reliability run
test' as well as 'dependable
capacity test' were completed
Wednesday, said a senior
Transport, Power to Take Centre
Stage in Budget
T he planning ministry is
likely to propose a Tk
1.81 lakh crore development
budget for next fiscal year,
giving emphasis on acceler-
ating the construction works
of some flagship infrastruc-
ture projects like the Padma
bridge, Rooppur power plant
and Dhaka metro rail.
The amount is 14.56 percent
higher than current year's Tk
1.58 lakh crore.
The government will give
emphasis to the transport and
power sectors in fiscal 2018-
19, Planning Minister AHM
Mustafa Kamal told.
company official.
Test run of this power plant,
however, started earlier.
The power purchase agree-
ment and implementation
deal were signed with the
government for a period of
15 years on December 10,
2017.
This is, however, the only fur-
nace oil-fired power plant
under the fast-track project
that came online within the
stipulated timeframe of nine
months.
EP
“At this moment we need
these sectors' development
for achieving higher growth,”
he said, adding that the pri-
vate sector would be boom-
ing if the two sectors'
capacities are enhanced.
He went on to state that the
allocation is implementable
and it would help to achieve
8.1 percent GDP growth next
fiscal year.
The new Annual Develop-
ment Program layout will be
placed at the meeting of the
National Economic Council
recently.
EP
‘Power Ministry to Be Paperless
in 3 Years’
S tate Minister for Power,
Energy and Mineral Re-
sources Nasrul Hamid re-
cently said his ministry will
enter paperless work within
next three years.
"We have to be innovative
and communicative for better
and improved services along-
side expansion of our areas of
works," he said while ad-
dressing a function at Bidyut
Bhaban in the city.
Power Division in associa-
tion with Access to Informa-
tion (a2i) Program of the
Prime Minister's Office or-
ganized the 'Innovation
Showcasing-2018'.
Additional Secretary of
Power Division Maksuda
Khatun presented a keynote
Supply of Re-Gasified
LNG Hits Bumps
T he delays in construction
of necessary pipeline
along with tie-up and 'syn-
chronization' complexities
have held up the supply of re-
gasified LNG (liquefied natu-
ral gas) to consumers.
Although the first consignment
reached the country on April
24, the government has not
completed the necessary work
to commission the supply of
re-gasified LNG.
"I hope the pipeline would be
paper highlighting 16 pro-
posals of different power re
lated companies and organi-
zations.
Chaired by Power Division
Secretary Dr Ahmed Kaikaus,
the function was addressed,
among others, by Principal
Coordinator (SDG Affairs) to
the Prime Minister's Office M
Abul Kalam Azad and Secre-
tary (coordination and re-
form) of Cabinet Division
NM Ziaul Alam.
Appreciating the adoption of
innovation in the power sec-
tor, Nasrul said the Power
Ministry is going to take En-
terprise Resource Planning
(ERP) and integrate e-filing
system.
EP
constructed soon
to initiate the
commercial sup-
ply of LNG by
May 21," said a senior official.
But industry insiders said it
might be delayed further as
the pipeline construction is
facing a major hurdle, cross-
ing the Karnaphuli River.
The US-based Excelerate En-
ergy Bangladesh Ltd (EEBL)
brought in its floating, storage
and re-gasification unit (FSRU)
-- Excellence -- after loading
136,009 cubic metres of lean
LNG from Qatar's RasGas.
EP
May 16, 2018 23
 Repo r t
‘Greater Dev Hinges on
Affordable Power’
S tate Minister for Power,
Energy and Mineral Re-
sources Nasrul Hamid re-
cently said affordable and
uninterrupted power supply
will be a major challenge to
the country’s further develop-
ment.
“Bangladesh economy is
growing fast and the govern-
ment has outlined a new vi-
sion of becoming a require vast land.
developed country by 2041.
Affordable and uninterrupted
power supply will play a cru-
cial role in this regard,” he
said.
For that, Bangladesh will go
for a good number of coal-
fired power plants alongside
Asian Jet Fuel Buyers Paying
Highest Premiums
A sian jet fuel buyers are
paying the highest pre-
miums for this time of year in
10 years as new and ex-
panded airports in the region
push its consumption to new
highs.
The premium for jet fuel car-
goes in the Asian trading hub
of Singapore was $1.01 a
barrel above benchmark
quotes recently JET-SIN-DIF,
the highest for this time of
year since 2008.
The booming aviation market
has also pushed up the profit
margins, known as cracks, re-
LNG and
other liquid
fuels, he said,
while address-
ing a workshop on ‘Power
and Energy Sector Capacity
Development’ at a city hotel.
As a small country,
Bangladesh has to address
the land scarcity problem
with best use of land and
local energy resources, he
said while commenting on
suggestions for solar and
wind powers which usually
Power Secretary Ahmad
Kaikaus added: “We’ve to be
realistic. In reality solar won’t
be a good option for
Bangladesh. The future of
wind power is not optimistic
as well.”
EP
finers make from producing
jet fuel to their highest since
early 2015.
Demand for jet fuel, which is
composed of the middle dis-
tillate fuel kerosene that is
also used for heating, was ex-
pected to ease after the win-
ter heating season, but
consumption has stayed
strong on a jump in orders
from the aviation industry.
The demand earlier this win-
ter drove the jet
fuel/kerosene premium to
$2.28 a barrel Feb.27, the
most since May 2008. EP
Rooppur Plant to Produce 20pc
Electricity: Experts
N uclear energy experts re-
cently said Rooppur Nu-
clear Power Plant would
strengthen utilization of nu-
clear technology in social
and sustainable economic
development.
They said this at a meeting ti-
tled 'The Potential of Nuclear
Power for Clean Energy and
Sustainable Development: A
Case Study of Bangladesh,'
held at Center for Advanced
Research's Science confer-
ence room of Dhaka Univer-
sity (DU).
In his welcome speech at the
800-MW Combined Cycle Power
Plant to be Built in Rupsha
T he government has de-
cided to build an 800-MW
combined cycle power plant
at Rupsha in Khulna to meet
the growing demand for elec-
tricity.
The Ministry of Power, Energy
and Mineral Resources has
taken up a project worth Tk
8,498.64 crore in this regard,
Planning Commission sources
said.
Asian Development Bank
(ADB), Islamic Development
Bank (IDB) and Japan Fund for
Poverty Reduction (JFPR) will
provide Tk 5987.86 crore,
North-West Power Generation
Company Limited will give Tk
50 crore and the remaining Tk
program, university's Nuclear
Engineering Department
Chairman Md. Shafiqul Islam
said, "The titled study will
generate useful knowledge
and inform public perception
about nuclear technology."
It also will help to develop
agriculture, industries, and
medicine sectors and open
new windows to hydrogen
generation and water desali-
nation opportunities.
He also emphasized public
acceptance regarding the
Rooppur Power Plant, along
with, being conscious about
high capi-
tal invest-
m e n t ,
concern of
safety, se-
curity, pro-
liferation
and waste
manage-
ment.
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2,460.77crore will come from
government's own fund.
The Ministry has already sent
the project proposal to the
Planning Commission while
the Pre-Evaluation Committee
(PEC) assessed it (proposal),
sources said, adding that the
project is likely to be placed
before the Executive Commit-
tee of the National Economic
Council (ECNEC) at its next
meeting for approval.
North-West Power Generation
Company Limited will imple-
ment the project on the aban-
doned land of Khulna
Newsprint Mills Limited by
June 2022.
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May 16, 2018 24
 Repo r t
Govt Inks LNG Deal with Oman Deal Signed with Chinese Firm
B angladesh recently struck
a 10-year deal with
Oman to import 1 million
tonnes of liquefied natural
gas (LNG) every year to meet
its growing energy demand.
Syed Ashfaquzzaman, secre-
tary of state-run Petrobangla,
and Mahir Al Zadjali, attor-
ney for Oman Trading Inter-
national, signed the
agreement at the Petrobangla
headquarters in Dhaka, ac-
cording to a statement.
Excelerate Energy and Sum-
mit Corporation will regasify
the LNG in equal shares
using their respective termi-
nals in Moheshkhali and
ADB to Partner with Private
Sector to Help Achieve SDGs
A sian Development Bank
(ADB) has said it is firmly
committed to partnering with
the private sector to help
achieve the Paris Agreement
on climate change and the
for 1,320MW Plant
pump it into the national net-
work.
The Excelerate terminal is al-
most ready for operations
while Summit's one is ex-
pected to be complete in Oc-
tober.
Last month, the cabinet com-
mittee on purchase approved
the draft contract with Oman.
According to the draft con-
tract, LNG from Oman would
be supplied at 11.9 percent of
the three-month average
price of Brent oil plus $0.4
constant per million British
thermal unit, a measure of the
heat content of fuels or en-
ergy sources.
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Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs).
ADB has also expressed its
commitment to help improve
infrastructure and expand ac-
cess to finance.
B angladesh Power Devel-
opment Board (BPDB)
signed a joint venture agree-
ment with China Huadian
Hong Kong Company Ltd
(CHDHK) recently to con-
struct a 1,320-megawatt
(MW) coal-fired power plant
in Maheshkhali, Cox's Bazar
at a potential cost of $2 bil-
lion.
Under the deal, a joint ven-
ture will be set up within a
month to start the construc-
tion, said BPDB Chairman
Khaled Mahmood.
Each party holds equal share
and the joint venture will get
48 months to complete the
project, says a handout dis-
tributed at the signing cere-
mony at BidyutBhaban in
Dhaka.
ADB's private sector opera-
tions over the past year
reached $2.3 billion, grow-
ing the bank's overall
portfolio of private
sector operations by
17 per cent to $10.9
billion, according to
ADB Private Sector
Operations Depart-
ment's (PSOD) De-
v e l o p m e n t
Effectiveness Report
2017.
The 27 new private
sector operations
Nasrul Hamid, state minister
for power, energy and min-
eral resources, said Ma-
heshkhali would be
transformed into an energy
hub by the next three to four
years.
He also said the power divi-
sion was no longer focusing
on short-term and mid-term
projects. It is putting empha-
sis on baseload projects.
Baseload plants are the pro-
duction facilities used to
meet some or all of a given
region's continuous energy
demand and produce energy
at a constant rate, usually at
a low cost relative to other
production facilities available
to the system.
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committed in 2017 ac-
counted for 13.4 per cent of
overall signed regular ordi-
nary capital resources financ-
ing.
Last year's commitments
were complemented by $5.9
billion in co-financing, repre-
senting 50 per cent of all co-
financing mobilized by ADB.
The report was released in
Manila, Philippines at the
51st Annual Meeting of
ADB's Board of Governors
recently.
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May 16, 2018 25
 Repo r t
BPC Faces Tk 609cr
Loss in March
B angladesh Petroleum
Corporation (BPC) in-
curred a loss of Tk 609 crore
in March due to a rise in pe-
troleum fuel tariff in the inter-
national market.
An official of the Energy and
Mineral Resources Division
said they are planning to seek
subsidy from the government
for minimizing the losses.
“We have a plan to submit a
proposal in this regard to the
finance division prior to the
next budget session,” the of-
ficial said.
In March, state-run BPC in-
Indian Firm Eyes to Export
Electric Buses to Bangladesh
E lectric bus manufacturer
Goldstone Infratech an-
nounced recently that it
would export electric buses
to Bangladesh in near future.
The company will also ex-
port similar electric vehicles
to Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan
and Myanmar, said Gold-
stone Infratech's President-
Strategy Naga Satyam.
The company said it plans to
create up to 10,000 jobs in
India in the next five years
and will soon set up a joint
venture firm to cater to R&D
and after sales service facili-
ties.
curred a loss of Tk
12.30/per liter on the
sales of furnace oil,
Tk 8.90 per liter on
diesel and Tk 7.0 per liter on
kerosene.
The demand for diesel may
cross over 40 lakh tonnes this
year.
“We have already requested
the deputy commissioners
(DCs) and BGB to intensify
monitoring on the movement
of the costly petroleum
fuels,” another official said.
The demand of furnace oil at
power plants sponsored by
Bangladesh Power Develop-
ment Board (BPDB) has also
increased to 10 lakh tonnes
in the current year. EP
The company manufactures
electric buses through a tech-
nical collaboration with
China's BYD, said Goldstone
Infratech President-Strategy
Naga Satyam.
Hyderabad-based Goldstone
Infratech recently bagged or-
ders to supply 100 electric
busses to Telangana, 150 to
Bengaluru and 40 to Mum-
bai.
It has an assembly plants
near Hyderabad with an an-
nual capacity of 600 units
and another upcoming plant
at Bidur in Karnataka with a
capacity of 1,500 units annu-
ally in
the first
phase,
giving it
a total
capacity
of 2,100
units per
year.
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Govt Plans Big for LNG: Nasrul
T he government has a ro-
bust plan for liquefied
natural gas as a new era has
begun with the arrival of the
country's first consignment of
imported LNG, State Minister
for Power and Energy Nasrul
Hamid said recently.
“We want to go big in LNG
because the financing is
available. LNG is technolog-
ically better, as the cleaner
energy needs less land.”
He spoke at a seminar on
“LNG import: opportunities
and challenges”, at the
Dhaka Club. The Forum for
Energy Reporters Bangladesh
(FERB) organized the discus-
sion.
The comments from the state
Thailand Keen to Invest in
Large Infrastructure Projects
T hailand wants to invest in
Bangladesh's large infra-
structure projects as part of ef-
forts to boost bilateral trade
and economic ties, a top Thai
minister said recently.
Bangladesh needs more
power plants, water treatment
plants, highways, seaports,
airports and new terminals,
said Kobsak Pootrakool, a
minister attached to Thai
Prime Minister's Office.
Pootrakool looks after eco-
nomic reforms, National
Board of Development and
minister came as the first
shipment of LNG has
reached the Bay of Bengal;
the LNG would be supplied
to the national grid from this
month.
Excelerate Energy
Bangladesh Ltd has set up a
floating storage and regasifi-
cation unit-based LNG termi-
nal with a capacity of
pumping 500 million cubic
feet gas a day (mmcfd) into
the network.
Hamid said the introduction
of LNG would create huge
opportunities for factories
whose production has long
been affected due to the lack
of adequate energy supply.
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economic zones and Board of
Investment of Thailand.
“We have a good scope to
participate in these big infra-
structure projects,” he told re-
porters after a meeting with
the officials of Bangladesh
Economic Zones Authority
(Beza) in Dhaka.
A high profile 32-member del-
egation led by Pootrakool ar-
rived in Dhaka yesterday on a
three-day visit to explore trade
and investment opportunities.
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May 16, 2018 26
 Ar tic l e
Quality Power Supply Still
A Far Cry
M Ahsan Shuvro
H
aving a boom in power genera-
tion capacity and number of con-
sumers in the past eight years, the
power and energy ministry once again
failed to offer a different experience with
better electricity supply to the people of
Bangladesh in this summer. People in
Dhaka as well as those live in the other
city corporations and municipalities and
in the remote villages of Bangladesh had
experienced prolonged power cuts every
time nor’wester had hit an area. This
time, vulnerable power distribution infra-
structures, negligence of the utilities con-
cerned and some chronic urban nuisance
overwhelmed shortage of power genera-
tion capacity.
With no difference in this year, power dis-
tribution utilities in rural and urban areas
stopped power supplies much before a
nor’wester gathering strength and hits an
area. The official explanations remained
the same with a simple confession; power
distribution networks were not strong
enough to sustain against the nor’westers.
Electricity supply lines often tear apart di-
rectly or indirectly by nor’westers and
common people might be victims of
being electrocuted by the snapped and
live electricity supply lines. ‘Therefore,
for the sake of public interest, we keep
electricity supply suspended on feeder
line until the snapped lines are identified
and repaired’ -- a common statement of
the utility officials. Reluctance and negli-
gence of utility officials in restoring elec-
tricity supply through repairing damaged
power lines or transformers and absence
of digital monitoring systems in all the
substations in the rural areas had in-
creased the duration of power cuts, in
cases, for 12 hours or even more.
Experience & Reality in Rural Areas
‘People in the rural areas raise trees in
proximity of the power distribution lines
-- sometimes those lines are snapped
mostly by broken branches of the trees
once nor’wester hits the area.’ ‘We try to
restore the supply lines within a shortest
possible time once supply disrupted.’
‘Our staffs are trimming off the branches
of trees those are in proximity to the elec-
tricity supply lines … soon the situation
will improve.’
With these common words to the mass
media and perhaps to the ministry as
well, the distribution utility officials have
been passing every summer leaving the
situation unchanged for the next year.
The Palli Bidyut Samitis of Bangladesh
Rural Electrification Board have proven
themselves as a collective failure case in
taking measures (trimming off branches
of trees) ahead of summer.
Expansion of rural power distribution net-
works without remote/digital monitoring
systems with the substations is another
prevailing shortcoming that, perhaps, for
the first time uttered in the public do-
main. In April, power division secretary
Ahmad Kaikaus admitted that the Palli
Biduit Samitis were unable to identify if a
substation goes out of order until local
people inform the officials concerned.
The rural electrification program has so
far been implementing without automa-
tion of the substations, which is quite dif-
ferent from electrification in the urban
areas, he said.
Some 80 Palli Bidyut Samitis now supply
electricity to more than 25 million con-
sumers in 73,200 villages using 804 units
of 33kV/11kV substations. All the substa-
tions are under the open sky and they often
go out of order during major season
changes, particularly when winter with fog
or summer with hailstorm sets in. And
there is no reason to believe that the engi-
neers and technicians of the PBSs response
immediately after they receive phone calls
from villagers, who are deprived of almost
May 16, 2018 27
all citizen rights. In fact, there are instances
that PBSs take two to three days to restore
power supply to a vast area when a sub-
station goes out of order.
The most frustrating matter is that modern-
ization with remote monitoring system of
the substations in the rural areas is yet to
take place. The REB officials said that they
were planning to pilot with three such
substations around Dhaka city. It would be
highly expensive and may not be feasible
for the vast rural power distribution net-
works having less density of consumers,
the assumed. Expansion of distribution
networks was and is getting the priority as
the power division secretary explained at
a press briefing on April 26, ‘We have two
options in extending power connections Electric wires are dangerously tangled on a pole
– to build quality power distribution net-
works first and then providing power con- queries. same month, a piece of flying corrugated
nections or to extend new connections Flying banners, signboards, clothes or tin from a construction site snapped a
with available resources and then upgrad- building materials during nor’wester often feeder line at Baily Road area causing
ing the networks.’ ‘We chose the second snap or cause short-circuit leading to power cut for more than an hour, they said,
option as it is more beneficial to have power cuts for hours together. Bikash adding that similar incidence caused pro-
electricity supply with a few power cuts a Dewan, managing director of Dhaka longed power cuts in the area due to the
day than to have it much later,’ he said. Power Distribution Company, who is re- same careless construction owner. The
sponsible for electricity supply in a major DPDC snapped the electricity supply line
Urban Experience
part of Dhaka city and entire Narayanganj in punishment although restored the supply
Power supply disruptions in the urban
city, said that most of the electricity distri- after one day with an undertaking, the offi-
areas, though not worse as in the rural
bution lines were bare conductors causing cials said.The urban nuisance created by
areas, put people in immense sufferings
short-circuits by hanging banners, sign- some dwellers, small businesses and con-
whenever nor’wester hits an area. Power
boards and construction materials when struction managers added to the negli-
distribution utilities often took even three
nor’wester hits an area. The scenario re- gence and reluctance of the utility officials
to four hours to restore the supply. Con-
mains unchanged for years, sometimes by that intensified wider public sufferings.
sumers alleged that their phone calls to
emergency contact numbers were not at- the same individuals, he said. In April, a Although it has been observed that power
tended most of the times, particularly if it 230kV transmission line at Aminbanzar in sector’s policymakers have been empha-
was after 10:00pm, although the utilities Dhaka tripped as a wet banner got tangled sizing on improving customer service and
announced those phone numbers avail- with the transmission line when nor’wester earning their satisfaction, the utility offi-
able for seeking emergency supports and hit the area, said DPDC officials. In the cials and staffs are far from practicing their
duties. It seams they are not ready to be-
lieve that their salaries and benefits are
given from the money consumers pay in
electricity bills. Bangladesh Energy Regu-
latory Commission, BERC, has been giving
power tariff since 2009 considering the
costs including those have been spent on
the utility officials in salaries and other
benefits. These are the facts and some sto-
ries of malfunction in the state monopo-
lies, the power distribution utilities. But the
consumers want services as they pay for it
and they want to see the government and
the BERC to ensure a better service they
deserve.
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M Ahsan Shuvro;
A Dhaka-based journalist with interest
Nor’wester snapping power lines in Cumilla in energy sector

May 16, 2018 28

 Ar tic l e
Addressing Energy Trilemma of Bangladesh
C
oncerns over irreversible damage
of anthropogenic climate change
have changed the dynamics of
energy use globally and forced the
countries to reconsider the prevailing
growth strategies and make a transition
towards less carbon intensive and sus-
tainable one. The SDG 7 has further
echoed the importance of sustainable
energy and laid the foundation for uni-
versal adoption of sustainable energy
policy with targets of ensuring access to
affordable, reliable and modern energy
by 2030 while doubling the rate of en-
ergy efficiency and increasing share of
renewable energy in global energy mix.
However, the World Energy Council’s
(WEC) “world energy trilemma index”,
prepared based on energy security, en-
ergy equity and environmental sustain-
ability, serves as a reminder of what
seems to be at stake with different coun-
tries on energy facades.
In economics, trilemma is known as
‘impossible trinity’ or ‘unholy trinity’
where it is impossible to simultaneously
pursue three economic policies, i.e.,
maintaining a fixed foreign exchange
rate, keeping free capital movement and
having an independent monetary pol-
icy, but two of the three policies can be
pursued together and achieved by a
country. On the other hand, meeting
the energy trilemma implies a coun-
try has to achieve energy security, en-
ergy equity and environmental
sustainability simultaneously. With
conflicting stakeholder interests and
certain tradeoffs, the energy trilemma
represents three interconnected prob-
lems. While energy consumers gen-
erally think about equity, i.e.,
affordability and reliability of electric-
ity, they may not have any interest to
know about the source of electricity,
be it from fossil fuel or renewable en-
ergy. Similarly, policymakers may
often consider access to electricity,
i.e., number of consumers, but not al-
ways reliability. Such is the complex-
Shafiqul Alam
ity of energy trilemma.
Bangladesh, with very poor perform-
ance on energy security due to ever-
growing reliance on energy imports and
energy equity as a result of lack of ac-
cess to quality electricity, is one of the
bottom-most countries in the energy
trilemma index 2017 and placed at
113th among 125 countries. In fact,
Bangladesh is not alone confronted with
challenges. Despite being two of the top
ten countries in the index, Germany and
UK are on the negative watch list of
WEC. The context of Bangladesh is,
however, quite different. Major factors
behind such a dismal position, among
others, are that the energy had been
neglected during the early part of last
decade when almost no new generating
capacity added in any form, mainte-
nance of age-old power plants was lag-
ging and efforts to minimize
transmission and distribution loss were
not enough. Furthermore, renewable
energy and energy efficiency were not
on the agenda. Along with these, other
factors include increased use of im-
ported fossil fuels and limited success
on renewable energy and energy effi-
ciency fronts during this decade.
Now, what technical solutions are there
to address this trilemma in the face of
SDGs and Paris Agreement? Energy ef-
ficiency is the most obvious and it is
probably the cheapest. It would not
only reduce energy demand but also
help industrial expansion with the saved
energy. This can be decisive in provid-
ing access to energy as well. While it is
well-known that energy efficiency
makes sense, its uptake is heavily reliant
on policy. The good thing is that the
draft energy audit regulation of
Bangladesh is going through the govern-
ment’s approval process and the energy
standards regulation for appliances is
anticipated to be crafted soon. Once
these regulations are in place, the chal-
lenge would be to implement the en-
ergy efficiency targets of the
government, i.e., 15% by 2021 and
20% by 2030respectively. To be fair, the
previous target of 10% energy efficiency
has failed to deliver results up to expec-
tations. Notably, cost savings alone are
often inadequate to stimulate the adop-
tion of energy efficiency measures. Pol-
icymakers must align the interests of
industry owners and consumers and im-
plement a combination of energy audit
regulation, energy efficiency standards
and incentives. These must be accom-
panied by raising awareness across all
industrial sectors to focus on greater en-
ergy efficiency.
It is also essential, for instance, to
learn from experiences of other coun-
tries, particularly due to rebound ef-
fect of energy efficiency. The rebound
effect is the energy savings achieved
from using energy efficient technolo-
gies is being offset by overuse of en-
ergy, for example, buying an efficient
car and driving it more. Other re-
bound effect occurs when energy
waste is being minimized by in-
stalling efficient technologies and the
monetary saving is being used to
maximize other utilities that consume
more energy. With economic growth,
there is an increased chance of re-
bound effect and therefore, target for
May 16, 2018 29
energy efficiency as well as energy tar-
iffs may be adjusted over time.
The other conduit to address energy
trilemma is to increase diversity in en-
ergy supply and electricity generation.
Building on broad consensus for the tran-
sition in energy supply, the policymakers
need to set clear and straightforward en-
ergy targets. In tandem, it is necessary to
look into the instruments that can attract
investment in the sector. Bangladesh can
surely take advantages of diversity on the
supply as solar has proven potential in
the country and the ongoing wind re-
source mapping would help identify the
feasible locations to install wind turbine.
These would help address the crisis that
at times stifles business and keeps homes
in the dark and help improve with regard
to energy equity.
In addition, it is not just about providing
energy access by renewables or reduc-
ing demand by energy efficiency; both
the options can drastically cut down
greenhouse gas emissions and other
pollutions, improving environmental
sustainability. Success on renewable en-
ergy and energy efficiency also have
strong inter linkages with other social,
environmental and economic co-bene-
fits, such as, opening up job opportuni-
ties, diffusion of low carbon
technologies, technological innovation,
less air pollution etc.
Apart from harnessing renewable en-
ergy and energy efficiency, offshore gas
exploration would be key to signifi-
cantly reduce reliance on imports and
thereby improve energy security.
While it is likely to be challenging to ad-
dress energy trilemma for Bangladesh,
the most important factor is having a fa-
vorable mix of policy instruments along
with a framework to track progress. Pe-
riodic review of the policies and adjust-
ment based on progress would be
crucial. We cannot be complacent but
we need to act fast.
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Shafiqul Alam;
International Climate Protection
Fellow at Ecologic Institute, Berlin,
supported by Alexander von Humboldt
Foundation, Germany
Rep or t
Power, Infrastructure to Get Priority in
Upcoming Budget: Muhith
F inance Minister AMA Muhith re-
cently said education, health,
power, energy, and infrastructure
would get priority in the upcoming
budget.
He said the next budget would be
placed in the House on June 7 and this
would be the last budget of the current
government.“The size of the budget
will be Tk 460,000 crore,” he said.
He was talking to the board of direc-
tors of the Dhaka Chamber of Com-
merce & Industry led by its president,
Abul Kasem Khan, when they called
State Companies Propose
Doubling Gas Price
T he energy regulator has formally
accepted the gas tariff hike propos-
als from the state-run gas companies
for near doubling the rate for con-
sumers except households.
Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Com-
mission (BERC) took into cognizance
the tariff hike proposals after the initial
scrutiny last week, said a senior com-
mission official.
The BERC has the authority to deny
any proposal too at initial stage, if it
does not find it to be appropriate, he
said.
The commission might announce the
on him at the secretariat.
Muhith hoped that corruption in gov-
ernment offices would come down to
a minimum level within five to 10
years.
He also hinted at a cut of the corporate
tax in the next budget from the existing
35 percent, citing that a good number
of young people were now paying
taxes.
“I am hoping for the corporate tax to
be reduced and it is under considera-
tion,” he said.
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schedule for holding
public hearings against
the proposals and in-
vite stakeholders and
consumers to oppose
and protest against the pleas soon.
The state-run gas companies submitted
the tariff hike proposals to the BERC
within one year of the previous hikes
to cope with the increased energy
costs with the import of expensive
LNG (liquefied natural gas).
Bangladesh received its first LNG
cargo on April 24 as the US-based Ex-
celerate Energy Bangladesh Ltd
brought in its floating, storage and re-
gasification unit (FSRU) carrying
133,000 cubic meter of lean LNG
from Qatar's RasGas.
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May 16, 2018 30
 Irrigation with
Solar Power
Gains Popularity
I
rrigation through solar energy has
changed the lives of farmers of various
villages of Matibhanga union under
Nazirpur upazila in Pirojpur district.
They have been growing different rabi
crops, including a local variety of lentil,
wheat and sweet potato, for years.
Earlier, they used to rely on the mercy of
nature to grow such crops and therefore
were unable to earn much. They had no
alternative as there was a scarcity of
water in the fields during the dry season.
After getting some popular boro paddy
from other parts of the upazila, farmers
of Baniary village began to cultivate
them on a small scale on plots where it
was easy to get water, for example, from
canals. But it would cost them a lot to ir-
rigate their fields.
10pc Electricity Should Come from
Renewable Energy
S peakers at a discussion recently
urged the government to take steps to
achieve the goal of generating 10 per
cent of electricity from the renewable
energy by 2020.
They urged the government to ensure
specific policy, budgetary allocation
and project approach to achieve the
goal.
They made the call at a focused group
discussion meeting jointly organized by
Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce
and Industry (MCCI) and Solar Module
Manufacturers Association of
Bangladesh (SMMAB).
The speakers identified this as a real
challenge for the policymakers, where
public and private sectors have to move
hand in hand to achieve the target with
SMMAB president Munawar Misbah
Now, solar energy is being used to cul-
tivate boro paddy at lower costs. A solar
panel has been installed in West Ba-
niary village of Pirojpur district for the
Moin in the chair.
The function was addressed, among
others, by MCCI vice president Golam
Moinuddin, Sustainable and Renewable
Energy Development Authority (Sreda)
director general Md Helal Uddin, Power
Cell director general Mohammad Hos-
sain, Power Division join Secretary Mo-
hammad Aluddin, and Bangladesh Solar
and Renewable Energy Association
president Dipal Barua.
The speakers said although the installed
electricity generation capacity of the
country has been increased to about
16,000 MW, there is still scarcity of
electricity.
They said combustion of fossil fuels re-
leases greenhouse gases into the atmos-
phere which causes global warming.
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first time to draw water from a nearby
canal with the help of solar power. The
water is carried to the field through an
underground pipe known. EP
May16, 2018 33

Solar Power Changing Lifestyle
in Char Areas
G overnment officials and NGOs ex-
ecutives said the char people are
getting uninterrupted power supply
using over 28,000 solar power units set
up in char villages of Rangpur, Nil-
phamari, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat and
Gaibandha districts in the region.
Different NGOs and the government
through the Ministry of Disaster Man-
agement and Relief and Infrastructure
Development Company Limited
(IDCOL) are distributing solar panels to
the people living in remote areas.
Divisional Commissioner Kazi Hasan
Ahmed said the government through
Members of the Parliament (MPs), Min-
istry of Disaster Management and Relief
and Upazila Parishads (UPs) is distribut-
ing solar panels under Test Relief and
o t h e r
p r o -
grams.
“As a Di-
visional Global Wind
Commissioner, I also get Taka 80-lakh
allocation annually in two phases and Capacity to Rise by
allocate the amount in favor of different
institutions and organizations as per rule 56pc in Next 5 Yrs
and they purchase solar panels from the
IDCOL,” he said.
Similarly, Members of the Parliament, G lobal wind energy capacity could
increase by more than half over the
next five years, as costs continue to fall
District Relief and Rehabilitation Of-
fices, upazila and union parishads also and the market returns to growth at the
end of this decade, a report by the
distribute their allocations under Test
Relief programs to the people and insti- Global Wind Energy Council shows.
tutions to procure solar panels as per In its annual report on the status of the
rules, Hasan added. global wind industry, the GWEC said
Senior Coordinator of RDRS Bangladesh cumulative wind energy capacity stood
Mamunur Rashid said over 50 percent at 539 gigawatts (GW) at the end of last
of the people living in remote and year, 11 per cent higher than the previ-
hardly reachable riverine char areas ous year.
have been brought under solar power That should increase by 56 per cent to
coverage in greater Rangpur region. 840GW by the end of 2022 as countries
Many NGOs like
Grameen Shakti, RISDA
Bangladesh, RDRS
Bangladesh, Prottyasha,
Rahim Afroz, Srijani
Bangladesh and others
have installed solar
power units at Taka 8,000
to Taka 45,000 each de-
pending on power gener-
ation capacities.
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plant as part of a seed

Biogas Power Plant Sits Idle
A lthough the construction work of a
biogas plant with a capacity to pro-
duce 80 kilowatts of power in Dashmina
upazila of Patuakhali under Barisal was
completed in June 2016, it is still sitting
idle.
Constructed at a cost of Tk 8.49 crore, the
government set up the biogas power
farm, the largest in the
area, on Char Bash-
baria. Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory
in Gazipur, owned by Bangladesh Army,
was in charge of the construction of the
40,804 square feet plant.
Six Chinese engineers supervised the
setup of the plant that began on Decem-
ber 27, 2014, and was later handed over
to Bangladesh Agriculture Development
Corporation (BADC).
But since then, the environment-friendly
plant lies idle.According to BADC offi-
cials, the biogas power plant is ready to
run, but it is unable to start operations for
a lack of quality straw and skilled man-
power to run it.
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develop more renewable energy to meet
emissions cut targets and prices con-
tinue to fall, the wind industry associa-
tion said.
Around 52.5GW of new wind power
capacity was added worldwide last year,
down slightly from 54.6GW in 2016.
The GWEC expects the market to be flat
this year but start growing again from
2019. "The annual market will return to
growth in 2019 and 2020, breaching the
60GW barrier once again and continue
to grow, albeit at a slower pace, in the
beginning of the new decade," the
GWEC said in its report.
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May 16, 2018 35


Over 10m People Employed in
Renewable Energy Sector
A study by the International Renew-
able Energy Agency (IRENA) sug-
gested the renewable energy industry
employs 10.3 million people globally.
The report also indicated that China,
Brazil, the U.S., India, Germany, and
Japan are the world's largest renewable
energy employers. The countries repre-
sent more than 70 percent of such jobs.
US DOE Puts Up $14.5m for Innovative
Geothermal Drilling Tech
T he U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
recently said it is making up to $14.5
million in new funding available to ad-
vance geothermal energy development.
The Efficient Drilling for Geothermal En-
ergy (EDGE) funding opportunity an-
nouncement (FOA) focuses on
geothermal drilling in support of accel-
erating the research and development of
innovative geothermal energy technolo-
gies in the U.S.
“Advancing research in geothermal
Adnan Z. Amin,
Director-General,
IRENA was
quoted in media
stating, "Renew-
able energy has become the support of
low-carbon economic growth for gov-
ernments all over the world, a fact re-
flected by the growing number of jobs
created in the sector."
The research found that the solar indus-
try with the production of photovoltaic
panels accounted for the largest number
of renewable jobs in
2017, by employing
3.4 million people.
Two-thirds of those jobs
were placed in China,
which is the top pro-
ducer of panels world-
wide. Sixty percent,
i.e., four-fifths of all the
renewable energy jobs
are in Asia.
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drilling technologies will help harness
the heat beneath our feet to expand our
domestic energy resources,” Daniel
Simmons, principal deputy assistant sec-
retary for Energy Efficiency and Renew-
able Energy, said in a statement.
“Geothermal is a reliable, baseload re-
newable energy source with firm and
flexible operation, allowing it to provide
a range of essential services that con-
tribute to our nation’s grid stability and
resiliency.”
According to the
DOE, the U.S. cur-
rently has an installed
geothermal capacity
of about 3.8 GW, and
there is an estimated
100 GW of addi-
tional potential geot-
hermal development
accessible in undis-
covered hydrother-
mal and enhanced
geothermal systems.
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Outlook Mixed for
Renewable Energy
Installations in
MEA Region
R enewable energy has a mixed out-
look in the Middle East and Africa
(MEA) region, due to a reluctance to in-
vest from some countries and an inabil-
ity to afford renewables in others,
according to GlobalData, a leading data
and analytics company.
Several major MEA countries are ac-
tively supporting the growth of renew-
able energy through mechanisms such
as renewable targets, renewable portfo-
lio standards (RPS), feed in tariffs (FiTs)
or auctions, net metering and tax ex-
emptions or subsidies.
Anchal Agarwal, Power Analyst at Glob-
alData, says: “Most of the countries cov-
ered in MEA* have renewable energy
targets, implying that these governments
are actively supporting the growth of re-
newable energy in their respective
countries. Some countries have capacity
targets, while others have targets to
achieve a fixed share of generation from
renewable sources.”
Iran set a target in 2014 of 5 Gigawatts
(GW) from wind and solar power, by
2020. In spite of this, renewable energy
did not make much progress in the
country. Hence, in January 2018, the
government again declared a target of
installing 1 GW of renewable energy
projects every year from 2018 to 2022.
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May 16, 2018 36
 C l im ate
Green Groups Call for
Cleaner Dhaka
S peakers at a program in
the capital recently urged
the government to take effec-
tive steps to make Dhaka a
dust and smoke-free city.
They came up with the de-
mand while addressing a bi-
cycle rally held to create
awareness among people to
keep Dhaka clean.
The rally was jointly organ-
ized by Paribesh Bachao An-
dolon (Poba), Environmental
Science Department of Stam-
ford University of
Bangladesh, Jana Udyog and
Bangladesh Cycle Lane
Bastabayan Parishad, in front
of the national museum.
Professor of Mass Communi-
Climate Change May Make
88pc Children Vulnerable
D octors have long raised
alarm about the poten-
tial health risks of climate
change, but it turns out that
children are particularly vul-
cation and Journalism De-
partment of Dhaka Univer-
sity, Dr AAMS Arefin
Siddique said, “We have to
build the city as a green one,
where the next generation
can grow up in a healthy en-
vironment.”
He also said to reduce smoke
and keep the city's air clean,
bicycle use should be en-
couraged and separate cycles
lanes have to be allocated.
Dr Enamul Haq, a cultural
personality, said people want
a liveable city and they have
to obey civic norms such as
keeping their surroundings
clean.
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nerable.
Children are estimated to
bear 88% of the burden of
disease related to climate
change, accord-
ing to a paper
published in the
journal Pedi-
atrics recently.
The new paper
highlights some
studies on the
implications of
climate change
LDCs Call for Urgent Action
at UN Climate Talks
Gebru Jember Endalew, LDC Group (center), highlighted the Renewable
Energy and Energy Efficiency Initiative for Sustainable Development as
crucial for reducing LDCs’ vulnerability.
O n May 10, the United
Nations Climate
Change Conference drew to
a close in Bonn, Germany. A
key focus of the negotiations
has been the Paris Agreement
Work Program, under which
countries are designing the
guidelines that will imple-
ment the Paris Agreement.
At the conclusion of the ses-
sion, Chair of the Least De-
veloped Countries (LDC)
Group, Mr. Gebru Jember En-
dalew, said: "The LDC Group
came to Bonn ready to shift
gears and make concrete
progress on the numerous is-
sues that need to be ad-
dressed this year to translate
the Paris Agreement from
concepts to actions. The
Group hoped that the negoti-
ations would advance further
at this meeting, and we are
for children's health and then
calls for the world to better
prepare for these health risks,
not just in the future but in
the present.
"We already have seen the
impacts," said Dr. Kevin
Chan, chairman of pediatrics
at Memorial University and
head of child health at East-
ern Health in Canada, who
disappointed that many vital
topics are still at conceptual
stages. The Group is con-
cerned by the lack of urgency
we are seeing to move the
negotiations forward. It is
time to look at the bigger pic-
ture, see the severe impacts
that climate change is having
across the world, and rise to
the challenge."
"Finance is key to meeting the
goals of the Paris Agreement.
In the face of climate change,
poor and vulnerable coun-
tries are forced to address loss
and damage and adapt to a
changing climate, all while
striving to lift their people out
of poverty without repeating
the mistakes of an economy
built on fossil fuels. This is not
possible without predictable
and sustainable support."
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co-authored the paper.
Chan pointed to Hurricanes
Katrina, Harvey and Irma as
examples of climate change-
related weather events that
have affected children’s
health, along with extreme
heat waves and emerging in-
fectious pathogens such as
the Zika virus.
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May 16, 2018 37
 C l im ate
Air Pollution Kills 7m
Every Year
S even million people suffer
premature deaths due to
household and outdoor air
pollution every year around
the globe, according to the
World Health Organization.
The South East Asian region
accounts for 2.4 million of
the seven million premature
deaths, the WHO estimates
after analyzing data collected
between 2011 and 2015.
Nine out of 10 people
breathe air containing high
levels of pollutants, the
WHO said in a statement is-
sued in Geneva recently.
Among the cities of over 14
Cox's Bazar Civil Body Wants
Fund to Restore Environment
C ivil Society and NGO
Forum of Cox's Bazar re-
cently demanded formation
of an environmental recovery
fund as the district faced
massive ecological damage
due to the influx of around
700,000 Rohingyas.
“We have already lost a lot of
natural resources, including
forest. Underground water
level is depleting fast in Cox's
Bazar,” reads a memo that
was placed before the visit-
ing UN Security Council
members at a hotel at Inani in
Ukhia.
million resi-
dents, Dhaka
has been
ranked third in
terms of the
presence of fine particulate
matter with a diameter be-
tween 2.5 and 10 microme-
tres (PM10) in air.
While the acceptable levels
of PM10 in every cubic metre
is 60, in Dhaka's air it is 147.
It is 292 in Delhi and 284 in
Cairo.
The data focuses on particu-
late matters with a diameter
between 2.5 and 10 mi-
crometres (PM10 or less) and
particles with a diameter of
less than 2.5 micrometres
(PM2.5).
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Civil Society and NGO
Forum Co-Chairman Abu
Morshed Chowdhury
handed over the six-point
memo to Joanna Wronecka,
Plea for Ensuring Sustainable
Production to Cut Pollution
T he level of pollution
jumps by 12 per cent if
the industry increases only
one per cent as the produc-
tion process is not sustain-
able or environment-friendly
despite the fact that 74 devel-
opment activities take place
through the private sector,
experts said at a discussion
recently.
They also said degradation of
the environment and disas-
ters are the major concerns
that creep in alongside the
development. So, sustainable
consumption and production
are crucial to tackling the ca-
tastrophe.
If the private sector cannot
ensure a sustainable produc-
tion process, Bangladesh will
not be able to achieve the
goal 12 of SDG by 2030 as
environmental degradation
and misuse of resources take
place during the production
permanent representative of
process, they added.
ActionAid Bangladesh, MA-
COMM and the University of
Liberal Arts of Bangladesh
jointly organized the discus-
sion titled 'Driving Sustain
able Consumption and Pro-
duction: The Role of the Pri-
vate Sector' at a city hotel.
ActionAid Country Director
Farah Kabir said SDG is a po-
litical document in which the
goal 12 is very important be-
cause all the countries like
Bangladesh will have to en-
sure sustainable process in
using vital resources like gas,
water and electricity.
"In reality, we are very much
reluctant in using natural re-
sources. We have been mis-
using natural resources
during production process on
one hand, and damaging the
environment on the other,"
she said.
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Poland to the UN.
State Minister for Foreign Af-
fairs Shahriar Alam and UN
Resident Coordinator Mia
Seppo were also present.
Morshed said they also de-
manded implementing ways
of cutting management cost
in the Rohingya assistance
program and increasing par-
ticipation of locals.
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May 16, 2018 38
 C l im ate
Seven EU Countries Step Up Fight
Against Climate Change
S even European countries heeded the
calls of scientists and vulnerable
communities and formed a coalition for
climate ambition. France, Germany, the
Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Portugal
and Luxembourg called on the Euro-
pean Union and other countries to en-
hance their climate ambition to keep
warming below 1.5C, the main goal of
the Paris Agreement.
The seven countries renewed their own
commitments and called for higher lev-
els of ambition to curb emissions in line
with the Paris Agreement and protect
the planet from devastating climate
change.
In a press release following a meeting
on the “2050 Pathways Platform”, the
French Minister for the Ecological and
Inclusive Transition, Nicolas Hulot, and
his Secretary of State, Brune Poirson
said:
ADB Prepares ‘Strategy 2030’ on
Poverty, Climate & SDGs
A t its 51st Annual Meeting, the Asian
Development Bank (ADB) pledged
to expand its vision to pursue a prosper-
ous, inclusive, resilient and sustainable
region through its ‘Strategy 2030,’ which
is expected to be finalized in mid-2018.
The Strategy will renew the ADB’s com-
mitment to eradicate extreme poverty in
the Asia-Pacific region, and is aligned
with the SDGs and the Paris Agreement
on climate change.
Over 4,000 delegates attended the 51st
ADB Annual Meeting, which focused
on the theme, ‘Linking People and
Economies for Inclusive Growth.’ The
meeting convened in Manila, Philip-
pines, from 3-6 May 2018.
ADB is preparing Strategy 2030 as its
new long-term strategy. The Strategy
outlines a vision and key directions for
ADB’s engagement with developing
member countries until 2030. ADB ex-
pects to finalize the Strategy following
“Confronted by alarming scientific
analysis on climate change, to which
the upcoming IPCC Special Report on
1.5°C will further contribute, enhanced
action by all countries is urgent and nec-
essary for respecting the Paris Agree-
ment long-term goals. The European
Union must keep its climate leadership
and show its ability to mobilize all Par-
ties to the Agreement in the fight against
climate change.”
Members of the Climate Action Network
welcome the move and urge all coun-
tries to step up, join the coalition, en-
hance their own climate plans to curb
emissions to net-zero by 2050 in line
with the Paris Agreement, and take the
necessary intermediary steps to reach
this goal. The next step should thus be
to enhance the EU’s NDC latest by
2020.
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additional consultations with multi-
stakeholder groups, including civil soci-
ety organizations (CSOs). Strategy 2030
will focus on ten priorities:
Delegates supported using differentiated
approaches across groups of countries,
given the significant diversity of ADB
member countries. Participants agreed
the ADB should remain engaged in
Upper Middle-Income Countries
(UMICs) in areas related to regional co-
operation and integration, global public
goods and strengthening institutions to
address emerging challenges such as cli-
mate change, environmental degrada-
tion and aging. Delegates further agreed
on prioritizing ADB resources for poorer
countries, including an increased focus
on small island developing States (SIDS)
and fragile and conflict-affected situa-
tions (FACS) in the Strategy 2030.
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May 16, 2018 39
 Int er view
Efficient Use of Energy Can Save
5,000MW Power in 5 Years
A
round 5,000 megawatt (MW)of
electricity could be saved in five
years if efficient use of electricity
in domestic, commercial and industrial
sectors could be ensured through intro-
ducing standard energy-efficient appli-
ances. About US$ 5 billion investment
would be required to generate
5,000MW of electricity. On the other
hand, fuel-efficient power generation
can help restrict carbon emissions to a
great extent. But required laws and reg-
ulations needed to be finalized and
then all the stakeholders should start
working in a well-coordinated manner.
Engr. Nurul Aktar, Director of Energy-
pac, said this in an exclusive interview
with Energy& Power Editor Mollah
Amzad Hossain.
For achieving sustainable supply of
quality power to all, energy efficiency
and energy conservation are essential.
How do you assess Bangladesh’s prepa-
ration in this regard?
Bangladeshis are conscious about sus-
tainable energy supply and also re-
quired knowledge about it. But there
has been too much talk about it and
few actions are visible to achieve these.
All out action programs are under im-
plementation for ensuring power supply
to all. But for sustainability, efficiency
needs to be ensured at all segments of
energy value chain from power gener-
ation, transmission and distribution to
end users. There exist many issues in
the formulation of appropriate policies
and implementation strategy.
A benchmark needs to be set for the ex-
tent of power and energy use by textile,
readymade garments (RMG), Cement,
Steel and other industries. BERC and
SREDA must work together for imple-
menting the benchmark. For this, en-
ergy auditing should start without delay
for assessing how additional power and
energy are being used in the industrial
sector. But the guidelines for energy au-
diting could not be finalized yet. Stan-
dards needed to be set for the level of
electricity use in domestic and com-
mercial sectors. Star-labeling must be
ensured after setting standards for all
energy appliances like air conditioners,
freezes, fans, lights and others.
Without wasting time any more, all Engr. Nurul Aktar
these needed to be done in a well-co-
ordinated manner. Otherwise, the na-
tional vision of sustainable supply to all
cannot be achieved.
Energy efficiency roadmap has already
been finalized. It states of achieving
20% efficiency by 2030. Standards for
domestic, commercial and industrial
uses of power have been finalized It will be possible to conserve up to
under this plan. Regulations for energy 5,000 MW­equivalent of power con­
auditing are being finalized. Is there any servation if energy conservation pro­
problem at this stage? gram is appropriately implemented. It
requires US$ 5 billion investment for
I have already mentioned that there generating 5,000 MW of electricity.
exist policies and regulations. But the
pace of implementation is not apprecia-
ble as yet. Energy Auditing is essential
for achieving the milestones of energy
efficiency roadmap. But it could not be
started yet. Chief Inspector of Electricity commercial and industrial sectors, in-
should be empowered for championing cluding lifts, motors, air conditioners
different aspects of policing energy ef- and fans.
ficiency in addition to his present re-
sponsibilities. Now we have to see the How would you evaluate the plan for
extent of electricity conservation in spe- energy efficiency and its achievement?
cific areas. In my opinion, the highest
It will be possible to conserve up to
savings of electricity can be achieved in
5,000 MW-equivalent of power conser-
domestic sector.
vation if energy conservation program
Industrial sector is the next where sub- is appropriately implemented. It re-
stantial power can be conserved. In my quires US$ 5 billion investment for gen-
opinion, 25-30% power can be saved. erating 5,000 MW of electricity. I firmly
Sizeable investment needs to be made believe that within this time, 15% en-
for this. Commodity labeling needed to ergy conservation in the commercial
be done for ensuring energy efficiency sector and 20% in the industrial sector
-- 20% conservation can be done this can be achieved. But efficiency needs
way. Star-labeling needed to be ensured to be achieved at all levels from gener-
for all appliances used in domestic, ation through transmission and distribu-
May 16, 2018 41
tion to end users.
Star-labeling and star-marking of appli-
ances after setting standards are not
easy tasks. The reasons are that same
products are being manufactured lo-
cally and some are also imported. How
can this be done?
No doubt that this work has challenges.
But right policy and appropriate imple-
mentation strategy would definitely
make this possible to achieve. BSTI has
to do this under the supervision of the
Power Division. It is possible to achieve
the target in 5 years. First we have to
star-label the domestic products. All en-
ergy and power appliances must be
brought under label 3 and 5. Industries
failing to comply with producing appli-
ances as per standards like incandes-
cent lamps, high-voltage fans,
non-inverter air conditioners and
freezes, and inefficient machines must
be phased out.
Alongside standardizing and labeling of
appliances no new connections should
be given to any domestic, commercial
and industrial user not complying with
the above. I consider this very impor-
tant for achieving the energy efficiency.
I have doubt that SREDA with present
manpower resources can achieve these.
A separate division may be created
under power division for championing
these. This separate division under the
ministry of power, energy and mineral
resources (MPEMR) would coordinate
all works. Otherwise, all entities work-
ing for energy efficiency and conserva-
tion cannot develop capacity.
You are talking about creation of a sep-
arate division, but different entities
under MPEMR are doing the works.
Why you are suggesting for a separate
division?
Please note that the priority of Power
Division is planning and constructing
new power plants, expanding and mod-
ernizing transmission and distribution
networks. Side by side they are also
working on development and use of re-
newable energy, energy efficiency and
energy conservation. I think the later
works have lesser priorities. Like India
and other countries, a separate division
must be created under the ministry for
renewable energy and energy effi-
ciency. SREDA and other entities would
work under this. Like India, an Energy
Efficiency Bureau may be created under
this division.
Special budgetary allocation must be
made for energy efficiency. SREDA
alone cannot do these works from the
center. The administration in 64 dis-
tricts, 480 Upazillas and 4,800 Union
parishads must be integrated under en-
ergy efficiency program. This will assist
in implementing the energy efficiency
program at local level.
I believe that creation of new division
would give new dimension to the de-
velopment of renewable energy,
achievement of energy conservation
and efficiency.
You mentioned about energy-efficient
buildings. Where we stand now in this
regard? What should be done?
SREDA is working to finalize energy ef-
ficiency building code. Green hotel
should also be included. I would sug-
gest including double layer glasses in
addition to the provision for using day-
light.This can hold the cooling heat.
This would significantly reduce the
electricity consumption for cooling.
Which areas of the sector should be a
subject of research? How can this be
done?
Bangladesh Energy & Power Research
Council has been setup. They should
give priority in research on energy effi-
ciency and conservation in addition to
other areas of research.
Energy efficiency is a global priority.
Bangladesh is working on it. What is
your opinion?
Bangladesh is still at the primary stage
of industrialization. Old and outdated
equipment and machineries are mostly
in use till now. Modern textile and steel
industries are being set up now. We
have to make huge investment for mod-
ernizing these industries. IDCOL and
BIFFL are making investment. It is not
possible to make all industries energy-
efficient with limited resources of two
companies only. The government
should instruct all commercial banks to
provide soft term low interest loans for
this.
Furnace and boilers also have signifi-
cant energy consumption. Energy audit-
ing must assess efficiency of this use.
These must be standardization. The av-
erage energy efficiency in power gen-
eration is 32%. This must be increased
to 50%. In my opinion, 25% energy
conservation can be achieved in 5
years through enhancing efficiency.
You are producing energy efficient
bulbs and fans. These are relatively ex-
pensive. How the users can be bene-
fited from using these?
Please note that investment in energy
efficient appliances is like investment in
savings certificates. Let us give an ex-
ample of energy efficient fans. Normal
fans use 100 watt. Energy efficient fans
for given duty use 70 watts. An energy-
efficient fan costs Tk. 2,500. Around
20% of the domestic power load is for
fans. Energy-efficient fans can save 30-
35% of power used. An energy-efficient
fan if used for 15 hours a day can save
Tk. 1,188 annually. In two and half
years, the price of the fan would be re-
covered. Additionally, substantial
amount of electricity would be saved.
There are practices of providing incen-
tives elsewhere in the world to encour-
age energy efficiency. What Bangladesh
should do in this regard?
Bangladesh must introduce financial
and commercial incentives for encour-
aging energy efficiency like other coun-
tries. These should be in the form of city
tax and income tax relief. The users of
efficient technologies should also be
provided with green certificates.
Energy efficient appliances would be
costlier than ordinary ones. Tax relief
must be given for production and im-
port of the appliances. On the other
hand, a 5-year tax holiday should be
given to local industries producing en-
ergy-efficient appliances.
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May 16, 2018 42