State minister for power, energy and mineral resources Nasrul Hamid on Monday said that the government had no plan to raise the tariffs of power and energy at this moment.
‘We’re trying to keep the situation stable through providing subsidies. But if any big change comes from the international perspective, then a decision may come from the government to raise the prices,’ he said.
Nasrul was addressing a Meet the Press event on Payra Power Plant’s inauguration scheduled for March 21.
He also said that the government was incurring huge losses in the energy and the power sector due to the price hike in global market caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.
He mentioned that prime minister Sheikh Hasina would inaugurate the country’s first 1320 ultra-super critical coal-fired power plant at Payra in Patuakhali on March 21.
The developer of the plant, North West Power Generation Company Limited, and Forum for Energy Reporters Bangladesh jointly organised the function at the Biduyt Bhaban in Dhaka.
Nasrul added that Bangladesh would reach a milestone through the inauguration of Payra power plant as it would be the first ultra-super critical power plant which would be environment-friendly.
He noted that prime minister Sheikh Hasina would also announce the rate of electrification coverage across the country at the programme.
Nasrul said that currently the country’s 99.85 per cent areas and families were getting electricity as the country was generating 13,000 MW power.
Power secretary Habibur Rahman, Bangladesh Power Development Board chairman Delwar Hossain, NWPGCL managing director Khurshed Alam, FERB chairman Shamim Jahangir and executive director Rishan Nasrullah were present on the occasion.
The state minister said that the demand for electricity was rising by 200 MW per day.
Regarding the surplus electricity generation, he said that if there would be no surplus generation, the country would have to experience load shedding in the coming summer.
He also said that the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation was incurring a loss of Tk 80 crore per day due to petroleum price hike in global market.
‘The monthly loss will be Tk 2500 crore if the situation continues. It is a big question that for how long could we afford this huge loss,’ he said.
Nasrul Hamid noted that there is no problem until now for project implementation in the country where the Russian firms are involved due to the sanctions on Russia.
Responding to a question, he said that though the Payra power plant will be inaugurated, it will need to wait until December this year to reach the electricity to Dhaka due to delay in implementation of the transmission line projects.