Energy News

Gas production in the country is steadily declining. Even with increased imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to cover the shortfall, the situation remains unmanageable. Supply is not increasing proportionately to meet demand, resulting in a persistent gas crisis. Therefore, the power generation capacity is not being fully realised. Meanwhile, complaints from residential and industrial consumers about the unavailability of gas continue to mount.

The country’s gas crisis kept worsening by the day as its supply lags far behind the demand thanks to steady depletion in local production.

The supply of gas, meeting over half of Bangladesh’s energy demand, plummeted on Thursday after imported liquefied natural gas unloading was suspended due to the rough sea because of inclement weather.

Bangladesh is currently facing one of the most disruptive energy crises in recent months. Extended load shedding, acute gas shortages, and high fuel price hikes have severely impacted daily life and economic activity across the country. According to the national dailies, the industrial production has slowed, transport services have been disrupted, and businesses—especially small and medium enterprises—have reported financial losses and operational downtime.

In addition, there has been environmental degradation, depletion of natural resources, adverse impacts on biodiversity, health and livelihood risks for locals and economic losses

The previous owners of the land acquired for the Rampal thermal power plant have been enduring severe hardship for 14 years now.

The government is exploring the use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as an alternative fuel for the 800-megawatt (MW) Rupsha Power Plant in Khulna, which remains non-operational despite being scheduled for commissioning in February this year.

According to BTMA, nearly 400 gas-dependent factories are unable to operate at full capacity due to the crisis

The country’s factories are reeling from an acute gas shortage, as allocations meant for industries are being diverted to electricity and fertilizer production.

Brand-new power and energy sector assets, including major power plants, are getting stranded, presenting the Bangladesh Power Development Board with new overcapacity challenges.

Stranded assets are investments that have stopped yielding return before the expiry of their economic life.

The cost of keeping the lights on in Bangladesh is drawing ever more intense scrutiny, especially over electricity imported under the agreement with Adani Power. In early May, Adani Power's Chief Financial Officer Dilip Jha disclosed that Bangladesh owes approximately $0.9 billion for electricity supplied from the 1,600?MW Godda Plant in India's Jharkhand state. This follows a $1.2 billion payment made to Adani just last November. By June, the outstanding amount is projected to reach $1.3 billion, once again placing considerable pressure on the country's foreign currency reserves and raising serious questions about the wisdom of the deal.

Renewable energy in Bangladesh is a bit like your overly ambitious cousin who swears they'll start waking up at 6:00 am, run 10 kilometres, and read Tolstoy before breakfast—grand promises, minimal follow-through, and inevitably back to square one by the weekend. Every now and then, we're treated to a flashy announcement: a new solar megaproject here, a bold wind energy target there, all wrapped in glossy government statements and hashtags like #GreenBangladesh.

Industry insiders blame abrupt policy shifts as reason for dismal investor turnout

The government's ambitious push to install 5,238 megawatts of grid-tied solar power at 55 sites across Bangladesh has hit a stumbling block. Despite repeated deadline extensions for tender bids, the initiative has drawn a lukewarm response, signalling eroding confidence in the country's renewable energy policy.

With hardly 8 TCF gas in reserve, industries now fight for survival

In 2017, Bangladesh had no gas crisis to speak of. The mismatch between demand and supply was so slight it barely registered on policymakers' radar. The following year, the shortfall crept up to just under 100 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd). Manageable. Largely ignorable.

Renewable energy, also called green energy, is made from renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human timescale. Some also consider nuclear power a renewable power source, although this is controversial, as nuclear energy requires mining uranium, a nonrenewable resource. Renewable energy installations can be large or small and are suited for both urban and rural areas.

The power tariff of the coal-fired 1,200-megawatt Matarbari power plant is going to be as high as its peers, observed energy experts, saying that the government-approved power tariff made it appear as if the tariff was lower than that of the electricity purchased from similar power plants.

On April 29, the advisory committee on government purchase approved the public power plant’s power tariff at Tk 8.44 a kilowatt-hour or 7.6621 US cents a kWh, with Tk 5.84 a kWh spent as fuel cost and Tk 2.60 a kWh given as capacity charge.

$32m paid to QatarEnergy yesterday, Petrobangla says $10m owed to OQT will be paid today

Within eight months of the interim government in power, Bangladesh has made significant progress in clearing the import bills of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG). Current outstanding bills have fallen to mere $10 million which was a staggering $665.76 million in 5 August last year.

Some power plants consume more fuel than others for generating the same amount of electricity, indicating an overall power management failure in stopping leakage of Bangladesh’s scanty supplies of imported fuels.

Inefficient imported fuel use also indicates waste of dollars, a portion of which is taken as loan as excessive spending surpassed its income through the back-breaking labour of millions of Bangladeshi migrants and readymade garment workers.