Energy News

US-based Excelerate Energy is set to begin supplying liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Bangladesh from early January under a long-term contract, providing a fresh boost to the country's strained natural gas-supply system.

"We will start purchasing LNG from the US company from January under a sales and purchase agreement (SPA) signed a couple of years ago," a senior Petrobangla official told The Financial Express on Monday.

The Power Division has raised serious concerns over delays in finalising the power purchase agreement (PPA) for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, warning that uncertainty over tariffs could trigger another surge in electricity subsidies.

“We have repeatedly sought the draft PPA for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant. Either they send the draft or complete the tariff calculation—we are in the dark about the plant’s power price,” Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) Chairman Engr Rezaul Karim told Just Energy News.

Falling spot prices and weak demand in Asia prompt Dhaka to look beyond its initial import plan for this year

Bangladesh is preparing to ramp up its liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports as global spot prices soften and local gas output continues to fall behind the domestic demand.

The government mulls converting around 30 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of unutilised natural gas of gas-rich Bhola island to LNG and carrying it to gas-starved industries in the mainland for consumption, said sources. The volume of converted LNG to be processed from Bhola gas will be only 2.72 per cent of the country's existing LNG re-gasification capacity of 1,100 mmcfd.

The LNG to be processed from Bhola, located around 130 km off the coast from Dhaka, will be carried through river, with storage facilities of around 150 mmcfd each on both banks, a recent meeting of the Energy and Mineral Resources Division under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR) decided recently.

A new civil society report has warned that the Japanese-backed Moheshkhali–Matarbari Integrated Development Initiative (MIDI) Master Plan poses severe governance, economic, environmental and social risks for Bangladesh.

The report titled “The Moheshkhali-Matarbari Integrated Development Initiative (MIDI) Master Plan: Another Japanese Domination for Energy Colonialisation in Bangladesh” was published by the Coastal Livelihood and Environmental Action Network (CLEAN) on Wednesday.

This year's COP30 failed to reach a consensus on finalising roadmaps and timeframe to phase out fossil fuel. However, UN member countries have been submitting their own Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) targets for reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission. Bangladesh has submitted its NDC reports and voluntarily offered to reduce GHG emission and increase renewable energy use. As per the NDC targets Bangladesh pledged to increase its share for electricity generation from renewable sources and reduce its reliance on fossil fuel use.

New report urges Bangladesh to drop LNG and coal projects over governance, environmental and social risks

A new CLEAN report warns that Japan-backed plans for Bangladesh’s Moheshkhali-Matarbari region risk unconstitutional governance, LNG-driven economic burdens, severe environmental damage and mass displacement, urging authorities to cancel fossil-fuel projects and prioritise renewable, rights-based development.

The government has approved 12 new solar power plants, to be established by private firms, with a combined capacity of 918 megawatts (MW).

The power ministry will buy electricity from these plants at an estimated cost of around Tk 40,000 crore over 20 years, according to a decision by the Advisory Committee on Government Purchase yesterday.

The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) continued emphasis on fossil fuel projects is worsening Bangladesh’s economic, environmental, and energy vulnerabilities, according to new findings presented at the Bangladesh Energy Conference 2025.

Experts and civil society groups called for an urgent pivot toward renewable power, warning that the current investment pattern is locking the country into an expensive and unstable energy system.

Top political leaders attend Dhaka event; calls grow for rapid renewable expansion

At the Bangladesh Energy Conference 2025, civil society and political leaders endorsed a 13-point citizen manifesto urging an evidence-based national energy policy, rapid renewable expansion and anti-corruption reforms ahead of the 2026 elections to secure a just, climate-resilient future.

Environmental Activists have claimed on Sunday that that the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) decades-long focus on fossil fuel financing is exacerbating Bangladesh's energy, economic, and environmental vulnerabilities.

"After 2000, the ADB shifted toward direct financing of gas-fired power plants and combined-cycle efficiency upgrades-primarily through OCR loans. High-profile tenders were also initiated for the huge power plants including Sirajganj and Meghnaghat 450 MW gas plants,"

Bangladesh has so far received US$17.34 billion in 106 projects from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), including nearly $6.0 billion for 36 gas-focused schemes that collectively support 3,659MW generation capacity, a new study has revealed.

Civil society groups say this long-standing reliance on fossil fuel lending is now undermining the country's energy security and climate resilience.

Bangladesh's mounting energy and economic strains are being intensified by the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) decades-long emphasis on fossil fuel financing, a new analysis revealed at the Bangladesh Energy Conference 2025 today (7 December).

Experts and civil society groups cautioned that the bank's gas-heavy investment model is steering Bangladesh toward an increasingly costly, risky, and unsustainable energy pathway, even as the rest of the world accelerates toward cleaner and more resilient alternatives.

Bangladesh’s energy experts warn that decades of ADB-backed fossil fuel investments are worsening the country’s fuel shortages, financial stress and climate risks, urging a rapid shift to renewables as new analysis shows gas-heavy projects remain idle, costly and environmentally damaging.

The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) long-standing focus on fossil fuel financing is worsening Bangladesh’s energy, economic and environmental vulnerabilities, civil society experts warned Sunday, urging a decisive shift toward low-cost renewable power.

Despite legal indemnities, digital censorship and corporate pressure, the media in Bangladesh have gradually built a counter-narrative that exposed the fragility of the energy sector's development model, according to a study by the Coastal Livelihood and Environmental Action Network.