Government wants to make electricity available to every household within 2021. Keeping this vision in mind, Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB or REB) has counted its Consumer crossing 1.5 crore recently. In fact, in last March of this year, REB instantiated 5 lac and 8 thousand new connections throughout the country.
REB ensured electricity connection to 3 lac and 25 thousand families more in the last January of this year. At that moment REB had a total consumers of 1 crore, 42 lac and 7 thousand. However, in December 2015 it provided electricity to 2 lac and 82 thousand of families. In this fiscal year of 2015-16, there were a total number of 30 lacs new connection established by REB.
REB has a plan to ensure electricity for 90 percent of families of the country within 2018, confirmed by REB affiliated sources. REB is a fast moving provider of electricity in rural areas which is driven by the government’s ‘Electricity to every household by 2021’ vision.REB is also expanding its transmission lines besides providing new connections. In addition, it has provided 3 lac connections to its irrigation consumer so far.
The chairman of REB Brig Gen Main Uddin said to Energy Bangla, there will be no application left pending. We’re trying to give connection against each pending application, he added. There will be no village or household without electricity and we’ll attain 100 percent electricity coverage by 2021, convicted by the chairman. Household consumers are getting the connection as priority basis, he confirmed. There will be a need of 1,650 MW of power more to meet the demand for all new connections. It estimates that, 100 MW of power is needed in each month to fulfill that demand.
The chairman stated that, currently Bangladesh is producing more power than its demand. As a result, there is no load-shedding and thus, there is no issue delivering the power according to the demand, he added.
Sources from REB informed that, REB has plans to construct 1 lac 30 thousand Kms of new transmission line, 1,107 number of substations, to ensure pre-paid meters for 57 lacs consumers and lessen the system loss to a single digit number by the year of 2021.
Already REB has built 2 lac 89 thousand Kms of transmission line in 77 of different Palli Biddyut Samity (PBS) areas. Hence, it benefited 1 crore and 36 lac of consumers of 43 Upazillas and 52,700 villages.
The government is willing to make electricity available to every household within 2021 for the development of agriculture and industry and to strengthen the economy of rural areas. As a part of this greater vision, REB has installed 47,500 new transmission line for 5 thousand crore TK with the help of 72 PBS from 61 Districts and 453 Upazillas under REB. These activities are committed under project name of ‘Rural Electrification Expansion’ to connect 18 lacs of more REB consumers.