The allocation for the power and energy sector has been raised by Tk 726 crore in the budget for fiscal 2021-22. 

The new amount is proposed at Tk 27,484 crore , up from Tk 26,758 crore in 2020-21.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal proposed the allocation while unveiling the national budget in parliament on Thursday.

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He mentioned that the country’s power generation capacity, including captive and renewable energy, has increased to 25,227MW as of May 2021. 

He claimed that through integrated   development   of   production,   transmission   and   distribution system, 99 per cent of the total population of the country has been brought under the electricity coverage.

Mustafa Kamal pointed out that 38  power  plants  with  a  capacity  of  14,115  MW  are  under construction,  and  contracts  have  been  signed  for  the  construction  of another 20  power  plants  with  a  capacity  of  2,961  MW to meet the growing demand for power in Bangladesh. 

Besides,  6  power plants  with  a  capacity  of  650  MW  are  in  the  process  of  tender,  and construction  of  33  power  plants  with  a  capacity  of  15,019  MW  has  been approved, he added.

“Due to the strict measures taken by the government, the system loss in electricity has reduced from 14.33 percent to 8.73 percent,” he said.

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The mega-projects in power generation include the Rampal  1,320  MW  coal-based  Maitri  Super  Thermal  Power  Plant project, Matarbari 1,200 MW Ultra-super Critical Power Plant project and Rooppur 2,400 MW nuclear power plant project. The 1,320  MW  thermal  power  plant  at  Payra has started  commercial production.

At  present,  722  MW  of  electricity  is  being generated  from  renewable  energy, he said adding that solar  and  wind  power plants  are  being  installed  to  generate  10  per cent  of  the  total  electricity demand  from  the renewable   energy.  

The finance minister said the   government   is working  to  lay  all  distribution  lines  and  substations  underground  in  the metropolitan  area  to  modernise  the  power  system. 

There  is  a  plan  to increase the number of transmission lines to 28,000 km and the number of distribution  lines  to  6.60  lakh  km  by  2030. 

“We  expect  that  through  the implementation  of  these  projects,  it  will  be  possible  to  meet  the  growing demand  for  transmission  and  distribution  of  electricity  throughout  the country.

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About the energy sector, the finance minister said that an average of 600 to 700 million cubic feet of natural gas is being added to the national grid daily by import of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

To re-gasify the imported LNG, two  floating LNG terminals with a total capacity of 1,000 million cubic feet have been set  up  at  Maheshkhali  in  Cox's  Bazar  district  with  a  capacity  of  500 million  cubic  feet  each, he said. 

In addition, to increase the supply of LNG, initiative was taken to set up a land-based LNG terminal with a capacity of 1,000 million cubic feet per day in the Matarbari area of Cox's Bazar district.