Power supply to 2.22 crore consumers of the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB), out of its total 3.58 crore, has been suspended following the landfall of cyclone Remal on Sunday (May 26, 2024). According to a top official of the BREB, these consumers are living in the areas belonging to 61 Palli Biduyt Samities (PBSs), out of a total 81. “The areas where power supply remained off till Monday since the hit of the cyclone are mainly located in the coastal belt of the country,” he told UNB. Impact of Cyclone Remal: Rain disrupts commute for office workers, students in Dhaka He, however, said mainly the power transmission was halted to those cyclone-hit areas as part of a cautionary measure to avoid any accident. With the improvement of the situation, gradually the power transmission and distribution system will be checked and restored, he added. Cyclone Remal: 2 die as roof collapses in Barishal He noted that it’s still not clear how much damages were caused by cyclone Remal. “We’re now receiving information from the cyclone affected areas,” he said. Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources took some measures including opening control rooms on Sunday to deal with the cyclone.

The government of Bangladesh is caught up in a dilemma in choosing the right option to reduce the gap between the cost of power production and revenues generated from sales. “Top policymakers are divided over whether the government should go for increasing the power tariff further or issuing more bonds through the banking system,” said a top official at the state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB). He said if the government wants to raise the power tariff, either it has to do it before Ramadan or after Ramadan - these are the questions almost every day that are being discussed at the policy level. They are also analysing the impacts of floating more bonds to reduce the burden of soaring losses on the part of BPDB, he added. Read: Retail power tariff hiked 5% to Tk0.19 per unit for lifeline consumers, Tk0.36 on average for others According to official sources, currently, the production of each unit of electricity costs about Tk 12 while it sells at a rate of about Tk 6.7. It means the government has to bear the brunt of Tk 5.3 per unit, a top BPDB official told UNB.      The BPDB’s Annual Report 2022-23 shows, the BPDB, as a single buyer, generated 87,024 million kilowatt hours of electricity in 2022-23 fiscal at a total cost of TK 98,646.42 crore. Its per unit production cost was at Tk 11.33 while it was selling electricity at Tk 6.7 per unit incurring a loss of about Tk 4.63 per unit. The bulk tariff was last raised by 8.06 percent to Tk 6.70 from Tk 6.20 per unit on January 31 with effect from February 2023.  Read more: Over 10,000MW power in 29 projects in the pipeline, despite yawning overcapacity Against this, its revenues were Tk 50,858.25 crore, incurring a loss of Tk 47,788.17 crore, showed the BPDB Annual Report. With this huge loss, the government has been in great trouble as it has to purchase electricity worth Tk 82,778.25 from private sector power producers while it generates electricity worth Tk 13,306.62 crore from its own generation plants. The annual report also shows that the BPDB’s average per unit production cost from its own plants is Tk 7.63, while it is Tk 14.62 at the independent power producers or IPPs (private sector), at rental plants Tk 12.53, at public plants Tk 6.85 and imported power from India at Tk 8.77. The government purchases electricity from the private sector and India in dollars. Read more: Power generation capacity increased by almost 20% to cross 30,000MW in 2023 According to official sources, the government's cumulative outstanding bills have now jumped to about $5 billion, of which the backlog amount in the power sector is about $4 billion (about Tk 43,093 crore), and the remaining $1 billion is in the energy sector. State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid also admitted the severity of the crisis. “Actually the crisis is not of local currency. Somehow we can manage it. But the main crisis is the dollar. We’re not getting dollars from Bangladesh Bank as per our needs,” he recently told UNB. He noted that the power and energy sectors need at least $1 billion a month to meet payment obligations. Read: Govt to raise retail power tariff this month In such a situation, the government recently introduced a number of bonds through Bangladesh Bank to facilitate the BPDB to clear some dues. “Initially, we have floated bonds worth Tk 5000 crore and it may go up to Tk 12,000 crore,” said a BPDB official on condition of anonymity, adding that it will not be enough to cover the losses, although the government is providing subsidies on a regular basis.     “That’s why the government will have to go for raising power tariff further or introducing more bonds,” he said adding, if more bonds are floated, it may squeeze the private sector’s credit from the banking sector.  But a final decision on what they would do still remains pending. Read more: Power, energy sectors are saddled with $5 billion outstanding payment amid dollar crisis: Sources

More reserves of gas have been found in Bangladesh's Bhola North-2 gas field. The Bangladesh Ministry of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources in a press release said that new gas was found from an appraisal well. It mentioned that the drilling works started at the Bhola North -2 Gas Filed on December 5 last year and ended on January 17 this year after reaching 3,428 metre depth to the underground ground. “Today (Monday, January 23, 2023) the discovery was made after completion of the Drill-Stem Testing (DST).” Read More: Bill placed in JS to pave a way for govt to adjust gas, electricity without public hearing The DST in exploration wells is the last step of oil and gas exploration. “The actual amount of gas production will be determined after completion of the final production testing. But Bapex is hopeful that the field would produce 20 MMCF per day,” said the release. 

Bangladesh may prefer to import Russian oil via a third country to avert possible risks of the business. According to official sources at the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, neighboring India might be such a preferred third country with regard to importing Russian oil. "Currently, India has been importing Russian oil defying the US sanctions while Bangladesh has a long term contract with India to import refined oil from its refinery at Numaligarh in Assam state, '' said an official at the ministry preferring anonymity. “If there is a bilateral arrangement between the two nations, such a business is very much possible,” he said, adding it could be a possible way to avert the risk in import of Russian oil at a cheaper rate. The possibility of importing petroleum fuel from Russia came into discussion at the policymaking level following an offer from a Russian company to sell its refined petroleum, specially diesel, at a cheaper rate to Bangladesh. Russneft, a Russian oil company headquartered in Moscow, recently offered the state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) petroleum fuels at $59 per barrel against a global market price of over $100 per barrel. As per the offer, the Russian company will reach its refined petroleum to Chattagram port at the rate which includes the premium and shipping cost as well. However, the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources has not yet officially disclosed anything about the Russian company’s offer. State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid declined to give any detail of such an offer. Read: Russian oil shipments to central Europe expected to resume “No more update as yet,” he told UNB on Thursday. Sources at the BPC said the import of Russian oil is not like fuel import from other countries. They said Bangladesh is assessing its possible risks to import petroleum fuels from Russia as such imports may invite anger from the USA and its Western allies. Russia has been facing huge economic sanctions from the USA and its European allies following its war with Ukraine. If any country directly imports Russian oil it may face similar sanctions, said the officials, adding that is why any move in this regard will not only depend on the decision of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources. According to official sources, after receiving the offer from Russia on petroleum fuel sale, now different concerned ministries including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources are assessing the potential risks and different processes of such import. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the ECNEC meeting on August 16 said that the government wants to buy fuel oil, fertilizer and wheat from Russia. In this connection she mentioned she had given the responsibility to her Principal Secretary to talk to the Russian Ambassador regarding the matter. “The Foreign Ministry can take initiative in this matter, we will procure fuel oil from them (Russia) with our own funds as the SWIFT is closed and the price of dollar is very high,” she said. Meanwhile, Power Cell director Mohammad Hossain said that if the government can manage the import of diesel at cheaper rate, operation of the diesel-run power plants will be resumed to increase the power generation. As part of an austerity measure, the government suspended the operation of the diesel-fired power plants from July 19 and introduced area-wise load shedding to reduce diesel imports and save foreign currency. Although area-based load-shedding was scheduled for one hour, it continued for three hours at a time in some city areas across the country. Load-shedding in rural and remote areas, however, stretched for more hours, consumers claim. Markets and shopping malls can now stay open until 8:00 pm. The government also prohibited illumination in different social gatherings in community centers, shopping malls, shops, offices and houses since July 7. Finally, it introduced a holiday staggering for industries on August 11 as part of the plan to save power and natural gas.

Bangladesh has offered to export its electricity to Nepal during winter while importing it during the summer. The proposal was placed during the bilateral meeting between the two countries at the conference room of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources on Tuesday. Also read: Coordination demanded in underground cabling of electricity, internet lines State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid made this offer in the meeting. He said, "We can import surplus electricity from Nepal during the summer and monsoon seasons and both of them will benefit if they take electricity from our country when their power generation decreases in the winter season." A nine-member delegation led by Nepal’s Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampa Vusal took part in the meeting while Nasrul Hamid led an eight-member Bangladesh delegation, said a ministry release. The meeting discussed issues of mutual interest. It may be mentioned that Nepal has a potential to generate 43,000 MW of electricity during the summer-monsoon season. At the meeting, Nasrul said it is possible to increase the production of renewable energy through regional cooperation. Referring to Bangladesh’s target to increase its renewable and clean energy’s share to 50 per cent in power generation by 2040, he said cooperation from Nepal and Bhutan can play a major role in achieving the goal. Pampa Vusal urged Bangladesh to invest in Nepal to harness its hydropower potentials. He also appreciated the steps taken by the Bangladesh government to develop the power sector. Bangladesh has been importing electricity from neighbouring India while the process for import of hydropower from Nepal is in its final stage and a signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for importing hydropower from Bhutan is under process. Also read: Despite surplus electricity, contracts of 10 rental power plants extended in four months Power Secretary Md. Habibur Rahman, Chairman of Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) Mahbubur Rahman and Director General of Power Cell Mohammad Hossain were present at the bilateral meeting. Members of the Nepalese delegation include Nepal’s National Planning Commission Member Dr Surendra Lab Karna, Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Secretary of Nepal Devendra Karki.

The Bibiyana gas field may add 70 million cubic feet of gas per day (MMCFD) by Thursday morning to further ease the nagging gas crisis in the capital. The Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources in a statement on Wednesday said this expressing its gratitude to the consumers for their patience during the crisis. Currently, the Bibiyana gas field is producing 1100 MMCFD gas against its capacity of 1200 MMCFD.  Also read: Gas crisis eases as production resumes at process trains in Bibiyana gas field The ministry also informed that measures are being taken to resolve the crisis as an LNG cargo with 2950 MMCFD will reach the Chattogram port by Thursday morning.  Earlier the ministry had informed that the Bibiyana gas field’s production would be normalized by Tuesday evening. But it’s now taking more time.    The country’s gas production drastically fell by about 450 MMCFD (million cubic feet per day) on Sunday, the very first day of Ramadan, following a technical fault developed in the Bibiyana gas field. The supply situation started improving from Monday afternoon as production resumed at one of the two affected process trains at the gas field. Officials said the gas field process system noticed that sand was coming out from two production wells which forced the authorities concerned to halt the production of the wells. The incident had a big impact on the overall gas production as many areas experienced disruptions following the fall in the pressure of gas supply as an outcome of the fault. Also read:Gas crisis persists as Bibiyana field yet to resume full production Consumers in many areas in the capital including Mohammadpur, Shekhertek, Rayerbazar, Dhanmondi, Shankar, Kanthalbagan, Mudhubazar, Kalabagan, Rampura, Wari, Maghbazar, Arambagh, Fakirapul, Banasree, Gopibagh, Mirpur, and Iskatan complained that they are not getting gas for cooking their meals. The major impact was on the power generation as the state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) had to shut down a good number of power plants immediately which led to load shedding at different districts across the country.

Gas supply situation has slightly improved as production resumed at one of the two affected process trains at the Bibiyana gas field. Both the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources and the Chevron Bangladesh have confirmed the improvement in the gas production and supply levels. According to a release of the ministry, the gas production at the Chevron gas field has increased to 1010 million cubic feet per day (MMCFD) which had gone below 800 MMCFD following the technical fault at the process system. Also read: Gas crisis persists as Bibiyana field yet to resume full production It is expected that the production at the gas field will reach 1100 MMCFD by Tuesday evening against its actual capacity 1200 MMCFD, said the ministry. “After the relentless work of our experienced engineers, we are slowly beginning to overcome the crisis”, it said, adding that different areas had to experience gas shortage due to the emergency repair works at the Bibiyana gas field following a technical glitch. The ministry expressed its gratitude to its gas consumers for their patience during the crisis period. Meanwhile, Chevron Bangladesh in a separate statement said  it is making progress in returning the Bibiyana Gas Plant to full capacity, with production at one of the two process trains affected at the plant and four wells in the field already resumed. The plant is running at a reduced rate after suspension of operations at two of its five trains and six production wells in the field on April 3 following the discovery of some technical anomalies. Safety of workers, nearby communities and protection of the environment are top priorities for teams working to bring the second train and all remaining wells back online. The cause of the unplanned shutdown will be investigated.

After a flip-flop, the Bangladesh government has finally decided to keep CNG refuelling stations across the country closed for four hours daily from Sunday. The CNG pumps will remain closed from 6pm to 10pm daily from September 19, the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources said in a notification on Wednesday night. Read:Decision to keep CNG re-fuelling closed from 5 pm to 11 pm suspended Earlier, a decision was taken to keep the CNG refuelling stations closed for six hours, from 5pm to 11pm from September 15. But that decision was later shelved and the new one was taken only after consultations with the owners of CNG stations.

Bangladesh has petroleum inventories enough to meet the irrigation season demand for crop production, the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources said on Thursday.

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid has expressed Bangladesh’s interest to work with India for the development of the energy sector in this region.