Bangladesh needs to generate 30,000-50,000 MW power in next two decades—This was disclosed at a meeting of the power division and Power Development Board (PDB) on Saturday.
To address this problem alongside tapping the coal and gas resources in the country, the government is planning to acquire some coal and gas fields abroad to ensure long-term energy security, said Energy Adviser.
Coal development in Barapukuria is in progress which would serve as a hub for coal development in that region.
Understanding ground water tables is vital for coal mining. Mining without understanding the water structure can seriously affect the ground water situation.
The energy adviser noted that for such enormous development in the energy sector, especially surrounding coal, an investment of billions of dollars is required to develop the road, water and rail infrastructure to transport raw materials and equipment.
He observed that in the last two years, the government moved for procurement of 4,000MW of power — something that no other government had done before.
This year, the government would move for procurement of the similar scale and complete tendering for setting up of a terminal to import Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) as an alternative backup for the country’s declining gas supplies.
“Besides, we are also considering a plan to import Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) from Shahbazpur Gas Field in Bhola to serve the gas starving regions (this gas field is largely unutilised). Similarly, we can transport some excess gas from the Sylhet region through rail to Chittagong,” said the adviser.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) was offering loans for 3,000MW solar power to its member countries, the energy adviser noted, adding that he had sought loans for 500MW from the bank. The ADB has not responded to the proposal, but it gave an initial positive feedback.
“How do we utilise this opportunity? I have discussed the matter with Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury and she proposed that we install 1MW solar unit in each upazila. This may be a good idea. A 1MW solar unit will take three acres of land and can pave the way to spread solar plants across the country by 2012,” said the adviser.
He said the government is also considering solution to providing energy to rural people — 80 percent of the country’s population, who have no access to commercial fuel.