State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Aninda Islam Amit on Wednesday said the government is making every possible effort to ease the gas crisis and improve the power situation.
“We have adopted a strategy since Tuesday evening. Hopefully, the situation will improve soon,” he said while briefing reporters at the Secretariat on the latest situation in the power and energy sectors.
Amit said an LNG cargo is currently waiting at the Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU) operated by Summit Group, as rough weather in the Bay of Bengal has prevented the cargo from being unloaded.
Meanwhile, the FSRU operated by Excelerate Energy is operating at around 50 percent capacity as one of its two boilers is out of order, he said.
The state minister said the FSRU will need to be shut down for about 72 hours for necessary work to restore it to full capacity. “However, no decision has yet been taken on when the work will begin.”
He said the government is in talks with the FSRU authorities and will consult the business community before taking the decision.
Amit said LNG is currently supplied through the two FSRUs and disruptions at both terminals have affected gas supply.
“If there is not enough supply of gas, it is not possible to supply the required gas to the power plants, which affects electricity generation and supply,” he said.
LNG imports from Malaysia
Regarding Bangladesh’s efforts to import LNG from Malaysia, the state minister said a Bangladeshi delegation has already visited the country following a virtual meeting between the two sides.
“Work is underway on the proposal given by Malaysia. We hope at least one LNG cargo will be available from there,” he said.
The state minister said importing LNG through ISO tanks will require a separate process as the required tanks are not readily available in the market. “This is a medium-term solution, and the government is also working on this,” he said.
Asked about the options being considered to address the current crisis, he said, “We are working on all the options that we have in our hands.”
Amit said energy sector experts discussed the crisis at a seminar at Dhaka Club on Tuesday, while the government is also consulting businessmen and seeking their advice.
Asked whether the government could give people a specific timeframe for improvement in the power situation, he said he was not in a position to provide one.
“The people definitely want to know the message from the government. If I were in a position to give a message, I would have definitely given it,” the state minister said.
“I will just tell you this — we are making a vital effort considering the suffering of the people. I think the people understand this. There is no flaw in our efforts,” he added.
Amit said the government has limited options in dealing with the current situation as natural conditions are beyond its control.
He blamed policy weaknesses of previous government for the current crisis.
The state minister said the previous government had focused on short-term solutions instead of medium- and long-term planning in the power and energy sectors.
“When you adopt the wrong policy, you will have to pay the price at some point. The previous government did not seek any medium-term, long-term, or solution. They pursued immediate solutions, and today, a crisis has suddenly arisen,” he said.
Amit said such a crisis could have emerged at any time and would eventually have had to be addressed.
He regretted, however, that people are facing the crisis during the summer.