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Dhaka Thursday,  Mar 28, 2024

Diversify should be key to address power crisis in BD:Robert Ichor

The US Deputy Assistant Secretary for energy resources Robert Ichord on Thursday said “diversification” should be the key to address the power crisis in Bangladesh. He, however, stressed that efficient energy use in combination with renewable energy could play an important role in meeting power-starved Bangladesh’s electricity needs.
Ichord was discussing the power situation with a small group of journalists at American Club in Dhaka. The US ambassador in Dhaka Dan Mozena was present at the discussion.
He began his official visit on 7th may to promote “sustainable energy for all”, an initiative that began two years back at the ‘Rio +20 Conference’ on sustainable development.
Ichord said Bangladesh’s policy of coal-based and nuclear power were “logical” from the “base load power generation”. But he could not rule out the dependence on gas in the long-run strategy. “It continues to be a major source in the country,” he said.
Based on the US Geological Survey analysis, he said, Bangladesh had additional on-shore and off-shore gas resources, but added off-shore extraction would be “very expensive”.
He said the US was taking a clear policy on coal in President Obama’s climate action plan. In the plan, he said, the US sought to work with countries “to develop low-emission strategies”.He said a process was underway with the Bangladesh to develop and analyse a viable low-emission strategy. But he said that public financing in coal should come “only in exceptional cases”.
About Bangladesh’s nuclear plan, he said it would be $ 5 billion or $ 7 billion investment and would be required to develop “tremendous” human resources as well as infrastructure. That he said would be difficult for Bangladesh since it lacks current capacity. “There will be a lot of challenges on the safety side,” he said. “I think the diversification option is the best policy”.
According to the US embassy, he would leave Dhaka on 10th may.

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