Energy Bangla

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Dhaka Friday,  Mar 29, 2024

Power Generation Possible At Lower Cost: Nat’l Committee

UNB

National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power, and Ports member secretary professor Anu Muhammad reads out committee’s 25-year master plan on power and energy, at a media briefing at the National Press Club on Saturday. Photo: Focus BanglaUnveiling a 25-year master plan (2017-41) on power and energy, the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power, and Ports on Saturday claimed that power generation is possible at a price lesser than the government’s estimated one.

It showed that generation of 91,700 MW of power by 2041 is possible at a cost of $110 billion, which is $19 billion less than that of the government’s estimated cost of $ 129 billion for generation of 57,000 MW power during the same period.

Presenting the 25-year mega plan, Committee’s member secretary professor Anu Muhammad said the core policy of the plan is to make the country self-dependent in power generation by capacity building while the ‘government’s focus on making the country dependent on import-based energy’.

“We’ve focused on energy-mix prioritising the use of renewable sources and natural gas while the government has been prioritising on imported coal for power generation,” he said while addressing a press conference at the National Press Club.

Mahbub Sumon, a member of the expert team which prepared the master plan on behalf of the National Committee, made a power-point presentation on the master plan.

Anu Muhammad said this has been a draft master plan and it would be finalised after debate and discussion on it.

He said if the National Committee’s master plan is implemented, the power tariff will come down to Tk 5.10 per unit by 2041 while the tariff will be Tk 12.79 per unit if the government’s master plan is implemented.

In the master plan, divided into short (up to 2021), medium (up to 2031) and long term (up to 2041), he said the idea of using coal for power generation has been rejected and instead the priorities were shifted to different renewable energy sources because of their decreasing cost.

He said the plan forecasts the generation of 25,250 MW of electricity by 2021. where 59 percent power will come from natural gas, 19 percent from liquid fuel, 10 percent renewable energy, and 12 percent from other sources.

Some 49,700 MW of electricity will be generated by 2031, of which, 49 percent will come from natural gas, 39 percent renewable energy and 12 percent from other sources while 91,700 MW will be generated by 2041 of which 55 percent power will come from renewable energy, 37 percent from natural gas and remaining 8 percent from other sources.

Anu Muhammad said renewable energy is globally getting focus for future electricity generation. Even, Indian and China have been focusing on the renewable sources, especially solar power, because of its decreasing trend of cost.

But Bangladesh’s main focus is going to imported energy specially imported coal for power generation when both India and China have announced their plan to shut down coal-based power plants, he said.

“China has cancelled 110 coal-fired power plants in recent years considering environmental aspects,” he added.

He also criticised the government for nuclear power plant project saying that the project is being implemented through a non-transparent way and it would put the country at stake

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