The state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) has failed to float an open tender for setting up 10 grid-connected solar power plants in the private sector, despite a top-level decision by the Power Division as part of renewable energy promotion. “The officials concerned have not been able to complete their preparations to float the tender, even though the decision is being given the utmost priority by the interim government,” said a source wishing anonymity. Earlier, the Power Division directed the BPDB to float the tender for the development of 10 grid-connected solar power plants in the private sector, each with a capacity of 50 MW, totalling 500 MW. Sources said the move came against the backdrop of the interim government’s decision not to sign any further contracts under the Enhancement of Power and Energy Supply Act (Special) Act, 2010. As a result, the future of 34 proposed private-sector grid-connected solar power plant projects, for which the BPDB had previously issued Letters of Intent (LoI) under the previous Awami League government, has become uncertain. BPDB had selected these firms through the process of ‘unsolicited offer’ under the Speedy Enhancement of Power and Energy Supply Act (Special) Act, 2010. Under this law, the government can award the contract of a project to any private firm without a tender process. Energy experts have criticised this Special Act as the root cause of all corruptions and irregularities in the power and energy sector during the Awami League tenure. Read: BPDB likely to invite tender for setting up 10 grid-connected solar power plants They alleged that many underqualified private companies were awarded power plant projects, significantly increasing costs and contributing to an annual sector loss of Tk 70,000 crore. As a result, after the fall of the Awami League government in a mass upsurge, the Dr Yunus-led interim government assumed office and decided to suspend the law and not sign any further contracts under the Speedy Enhancement of Power and Energy Supply Act (Special) Act, 2010. The interim government’s Energy Adviser Dr Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan announced the decision soon after assuming office in the Power and Energy Ministry, saying that all future projects will be implemented through an open tender process. This decision, however, put the private sponsors, who pursued the 34 solar projects, in great difficulty as they had already spent huge amounts of money to procure land and secure the LoI. In such a situation, they expressed their interest to get these projects through a competitive bidding process and secure the contract through open tender. Read: BPDB to prepare position paper on its financial and economic condition within a week “We have decided to initially float a tender for setting up a good number of location-wise 50 MW solar projects. It will help those who have already procured land to get the project through a competitive bidding process,” Senior Secretary to the Power Division Habibur Rahman told UNB about 10 days ago. He said the government is trying to implement solar power projects as part of renewable energy promotion. The private sponsors will set up the plants at their own cost and the BPDB will purchase electricity from the private plants for a specific period of time. “The BPDB will soon float the tender for a number of grid-connected solar projects, each of 50 MW capacity. Mostly, those locations will be selected where power evacuation facilities are available with grid substations,” said the power secretary. He, however, did not provide details of the locations. Read more: Interim govt contemplating new bond issuance to clear BPDB’s dues with pvt power producers  A senior official of the BPDB mentioned that mainly the Independent Power Producer (IPP) Cell-1 has been working on preparing the tender document and site selection. Despite repeated calls over the mobile phone, Director of the IPP Cell-1 Shamsuzzoha Kabir did not respond to queries in this regard.

The government of Bangladesh urgently needs to review the deal with India’s Adani Group, for the sake of the power sector in the current cash crunch. Most officials of the state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) strongly believe this, noting that the government needs to pay $100 million every month to import electricity from the Adani power plant in Jharkhand. “If the Adani deal is reviewed, and the tariff is reduced, the government can save upto 50 percent of the money it now pays to Adani,” a senior BPDB official told UNB, requesting anonymity as the issue is highly sensitive. The government signed a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) in November 2017 with Adani Power under an unsolicited offer, to buy electricity from its 1600 MW power plant in Godda of Jharkhand. It started importing electricity from the plant in April 2023. Besides the Adani plant, Bangladesh has also been importing about 1160 MW of electricity from India, of which about half is from the Indian private sector and the other half through the government arrangement. All are from coal-fired, or thermal power plants. Read more: No reason to get affected ties with India: Foreign Affairs Adviser BPDB officials said currently this import costs about Tk 5.50 per unit (kilowatt hour) from Indian state-owned plants, Tk 8.50 per unit from Indian private sector while Adani’s power costs about Tk 15 per unit. “It means import of electricity from Adani’s power plant costs almost double compared with the average cost of the import under the Indian government’s arrangement,” said the BPDB official. If the government wants to review the deal, this is the time to do the job, he added, saying that the review will bring huge financial benefits for Bangladesh. Many energy experts in Bangladesh have also been criticising Adani's deal. They said that currently, the BPDB needs to pay over $1.2 billion a year and over 25 years, the payment will be $30 billion. If the deal is reviewed, and the tariff is halved, the BPDB can save $15 billion in 25 years. At present, the outstanding bills of the BPDB amount to Tk 45,000 crore because of its purchase of electricity from the private sector and also import from India at a higher rate. Read more: Adani Group seeks new investment opportunity in Bangladesh Energy expert and vice president of Consumers Association of Bangladesh (BPDB) M Shamsul Alam said that the government should immediately take measures to review all unsolicited deals, including Adani’s one. Sources said that after huge criticism in Bangladesh, last year the Adani Group agreed to reduce the power tariff in exporting electricity. But the arrangement was made on an ad-hoc basis and every month the BPDB has to negotiate with the Indian company to set the power price. “But we need a permanent solution to this deal through a review,” the senior BPDB official told UNB.

A move is underway to acquire a 50-acre piece of land by the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) to develop a modern waste management facility alongside the existing Landfill Site (LFS) in the city’s Amin Bazar area. According to official sources, the new site will be an expansion of the current LFS, which was also developed on 50 acres of land.   The current LFS in Amin Bazar is close to being filled up with the waste collected from the areas under DNCC. “The LFS in Amin Bazar is overfilled and went to 80 feet high from the level. Now it has become risky for workers to further fill the land with waste,” Captain Mohammad Fida Hasan, Chief Waste Management Officer of the DNCC, told UNB. DNCC completes sacrificial animal waste removal on second day of Eid He said the DNCC has completed all the necessary procedures to receive the land from the district administration once the allotted fund is released by the Finance Ministry. The DNCC will need Tk 450 crore from the GoB (Government of Bangladesh) fund to acquire the land. Fida Hasan also informed that the new LFS will be developed alongside the establishment of the proposed 42.5 MW Waste-to-Energy power plant which is expected to start power generation from July 2026. When such a power plant is being developed as part of the waste management system, why is such a new LFS required?-responding to such a question, the DNCC Chief Waste Management Officer said that the new site will have different facilities like electronic waste management, medicate waste treatment, and solid waste management. This will require new land to develop the facilities, which also include establishment of a training centre and vehicle parking area. Currently, Dhaka city is collecting 3,000 mts of solid waste from different areas which is about 80 percent of the total waste. DNCC completes 100% removal of sacrificial animal waste within deadline As per a plan, this total waste will be supplied to the Waste to Energy project daily while CMEC will set up an incineration plant to generate 42.5 MW power and BPDB will purchase the electricity from the plant at US21.78 Cents, equivalent to Tk 18.295, per kilowatt hour (each unit) over a period of 25 years. But DNCC officials said if any additional wastes are collected, those will be filled in the new modern LFS. They also said this new system will be developed under its “New Clean Dhaka Master Plan 2018–2032” which was envisioned to introduce “Environmentally Advanced City with Integrated and Sustainable Solid Waste Management: Toward Zero-Waste”. According to the Master Plan, the core target of the DNCC is collecting more waste generated at households by increasing the collection capacity, reducing waste by introducing waste separation and recycling, and minimizing the volume of the remaining waste that goes to the LFS with intermediate treatment so that the lifespan of LFS can be extended. This Master Plan highlights four indicators: waste collection, waste reduction, recycling, and to quantitatively monitor landfill disposal. Read more: E-Waste Crisis: Effects of Electronic Waste on Environment and Human Health

Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) is going to bear the brunt after recent enhancement of US Dollar rate as it will have to spend an additional amount of over Tk 7,300 crore to purchase electricity from the private sector. According to official sources, the BPDB's annual spending was roughly calculated as Tk 104,000 crore for purchasing electricity from the independent power producers (IPPs) for the fiscal year 2023-24. The total expense will now go up to about Tk 1,11,300 crore, according to officials familiar with the estimate this week. But after the increase in the rate of USD by the central bank through the introduction of a crawling peg system, the BPDB has been a great victim of such a decision. The Bangladesh Bank on May 8 unveiled the crawling peg exchange rate system and allowed banks to buy and sell US dollars freely near Tk117, as well as letting go of its regulatory power of the Smart rate, and hiking the repo rate. 360 MW Haripur unlikely to get extension despite low cost electricity: Sources Under this system, a crawling peg mid rate (CPMR) has been set at Tk117 per US dollar with immediate effect. Scheduled banks may purchase and sell US dollars freely around the CPMR with their customers and in interbank deals, the notice also said. A crawling peg system is a method of exchange rate adjustments that allows a currency with a fixed exchange rate to fluctuate within a band of rates. It is a hybrid of fixed and floating exchange rate systems. "The payment mode of the power purchase agreements (PPAs) with the IPPS is in USD. So, we have to incur a huge financial loss when the USD rate goes up", a top official of the BPDB told UNB. As the issue is very sensitive, preferring anonymity, he said the BPDB's loss will be enormous this year as the dollar rate went up in one go by Tk 7 to Tk 117 from the Tk 110. He said the extra burden of paying Tk 7,300 crore will complicate the situation when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been insisting on reducing government's loss in buying electricity from the private sector. Differing reserve figures stirring market instability and consumer price hikes He noted that The BPDB has to spend over Tk 12 in each unit of power generation while its average selling rate is about Tk 8.95 with incurring over Tk 3 per unit. "The IMF has repeatedly been putting pressure on the BPDB to raise the electricity tariff to reduce the financial loss. Now, after enhancement of the USD rate, the financial loss will be tough to manage", said another official of the BPDB. He, however, said despite the pressure from the international lending agency, the BPDB has not taken any decision to raise the tariff shortly. Power and energy sector likely to get Tk 804 billion allocation in next two fiscal years "The Power Division and the BPDB have been making their own calculations about the impact of the USD rate enhancement. The final decision will come from the government if any decision is taken politically to raise the power tariff", added. The BPDB annual report reveals that as the single buyer in the power sector, the organisation's operating expense was Tk 93,797.37 in the fiscal year 2023-24.

Haripur 360 MW combined cycle power plant (CCPP), which generates electricity at lowest cost, is unlikely to get extension after completion of its 22-year initial contract period. According to official sources, the power plant, established by leading US company AES Corporation in 2001, completed its successful operational period in November 2023. Since then, the government has not taken electricity from the plant.    The AES Corporation developed two large base-load power plants—Haripur 360 MW CCPP in 2001 and Meghbaghat 450 MW CCPP in 2002—with the highest efficiency, but lowest cost.   As per the power purchase agreement (PPA), state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) had been purchasing electricity from the two first generation independent power producer (IPP) plants. BPDB officials said that initially, Haripur's power tariff was Tk.1.56 per unit, which is the lowest not only in Bangladesh, but also in the world. According to a World Bank document publicly disclosed on June 24, 2014 which compared the power generation cost of different IPPS, shows that when the Khulna Power Company Limited was selling electricity to the BPDB at Tk 16.03 per unit in 1998, NEPC at Tk 20.20 per unit in 1999, Haripur was selling it at Tk 1.56 per unit and Meghbaghat was selling power at Tk 2.33 per unit. Read more: Bangladesh to provide 190 acres of land in Kurigram for Bhutanese investors; discussion to import hydropower underway Currently, the average generation cost is over Tk 10 per unit. Through a gazette notification issued on March 1, the government set the retail tariff of electricity at Tk 8.95. Officials said, until last year BPDB was buying electricity from the plant at Tk 3.32 per unit which was the lowest among all other private power plants. But in November 2023, the PPA expired and BPDB suspended purchasing electricity from the plant. The BPDB’s such move surprised many as it was unlikely on the part of the government that it unilaterally stopped buying electricity from the most efficient and lowest cost power when it continued purchase of electricity from high cost plants belonging to Summit Group and other plants. “Actually, there was no strong lobby on behalf of the Haripur plant to pursue the government to renew its contract with the BPDB. That’s why the country will be deprived of the low cost electricity,” a top official of the BPDB told UNB requesting anonymity. He, however, said the government can offer the owner-company of the Haripur plant to buy it and operate under the BPDB management. Read more: Power cuts plague Sylhet: Frustration growing among residents and businesses Sources said the USA-based AES Corporation developed the Haripur and Meghnaghat power plants, after a number of changes into their ownership. Now Malaysian Pendekar Energy Limited owns and operates the two plants.          In 2003, AES sold the plants to the UK company CDC Globeleq, which sold the plants to Malaysia-based Pendekar Group in 2007. Official sources said the government had to pay Tk 50-55 crore a month to purchase electricity from the Haripur power plant for its 360 MW electricity. “But from November 2022, the operator of the plant has not been receiving any bills from the BPDB for which it lost interest to continue its operation”, said another source. He also mentioned that BPDB is also not interested to extend its operation as it has  contractual obligation to buy electricity from newly established plants like Summit Group’s Meghnaghat Plant, Unique Group’s Meghnaghat plant and also some coal –fired power plants which electricity cost is between Tk 6.50 to Tk 30 per unit. Read more: First private sector solar project in Bangladesh secures $121.55 million funding from ADB

Bangladesh's State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resource Nasrul Hamid has said that each of the companies of the Petrobangla will be given target to drill wells in the gas fields for hydrocarbon exploration and if they fail, the officials concerned will be removed from  their posts. “Nobody will be speared and no persuasion will be accepted against any failure”, he told a seminar titled: “Gas Demand-Supply Scenario; Scope of Seismic Survey and Enhancement of Drilling Activities to Expedite Hydrocarbon Production” organised by Petrobangla at its auditorium in the city on Thursday (February 15, 2024). Expressing frustration over the activities of the Petrobangla, he said that there is huge deficiency in the organisation and its subordinate bodies to work as a team. “They don’t work in a coordinated manner. As a result, sometimes gas is found in a well, but processing plant remains unprepared  to supply the gas to the national grid,” he said. Read: Dhaka’s air quality still 'unhealthy', 2nd most polluted in the world this morning  “Sometimes it takes 4 years to get gas supply from a well to the national grid,” he added. He said Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and other entities in power sector have been successful in achieving the goal of 100 percent electricity access as they worked as a team. The seminar, with Petrobangla chairman Zanendra Nath Sarker in the chair, was also addressed by Energy Secretary Md Nurul Alam. Bakhrabad Gas Distribution Company’s Managing Director Anwarul Islam and Petrobangla’s general manager Meherul Hasan made presentation on the topic of the seminar. Nasrul Hamid said the Petrobangla planned to drill 48 wells to produce 500 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) while the country’s demand will go up by 2000 mmcfd. Read: New executive committee of BSFA pays homage to Bangabandhu  “We’re all looking at Petrobangla to see effective results of its plan…, there is huge prospects in the gas sector,” he added. He said the country has many inefficient captive power plants which efficiency is 20 percent when some new power plants installed with 62 percent efficiency. “If we can divert gas to those efficient new power plants, power production cost will come down by 70 percent,” he noted. In the presentation the Petrobangla officials showed that it has planned to drill 100 wells across the country from which 1500 mmcfd gas will be produced by 2027 when gas demand will go up to 6000 mmcfd. Read more: Nasrul Hamid seeks ADB's help to create regional power market

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

Some 29 more power generation projects, having a combined capacity of 10,881 MW are now under construction, even as the country struggles to manage the costs of overcapacity to the tune of 40 percent in the power sector. The recently published “Annual Report 2022-23” of the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB)contains information on the under-construction 29 power generation projects. It said, “Diversified fuel-based power generation expansion plans are adopted to meet the ever growing electricity demand in Bangladesh. As a part of these plans, 29 power generation projects of capacity 10,881 MW are now under construction, out of which, BPDB is directly implementing 5 projects of capacity 730 MW and 17 projects of capacity 4,230 MW through the IPP sector.” The annual report further said, “The plan envisages around 20,416 MW new generation addition from July 2023 to December 2027, out of which 728 MW capacity has already been added up to September 2023.” Many experts in the power and energy sector believe that keeping a 40 percent surplus, adding another 10,881 MW to the national grid in the next three years will further increase the burden of capacity payments, which are written into contracts with independent power producers, as the private sector players owning power plants are referred to. Power, energy sectors are saddled with $5 billion outstanding payment amid dollar crisis: Sources Of the total 29 projects, 5 are in the public sector while17 are in the private sector as independent power producer (IPP) projects, the annual report said. The ownership structure of the remaining 7 is not clear, with some hybrid combination possible. According to available data, the country’s overall power generation, combining grid capacity and off-grid (mainly captive) power, increased by about 5000MW in 2023 to reach a new benchmark of 30,700MW, although with demand failing to keep up, this is expected to lead to higher capacity payments for the government. This is disclosed in available data from the state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) and Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (Sreda). The BPDB data shows that of the 5000MW new power generation, some 3,343MW was added to the national grid by the import electricity from India and production from newly set up local power plants while about 1400MW came from off-grid captive and off-grid solar power. It also shows that the country’s installed grid-connected power generation capacity has reached to 25,951 MW on December 30 in 2023 from 22,608 MW in 2022 showing a capacity enhancement of 3343 MW. Oil companies attending climate talks have minimal green energy transition plans Beyond the national grid, as per BERC data, the captive power generation has increased by 1379MW to reach 4760 MW in 2023 from 3,381MW in 2022. The captive power plants were mainly set up by industries for their own consumption to get uninterrupted power supply as the grid power does not guarantee uninterrupted supply. Sources in the power sector said that despite more than 40 percent surplus power generation in the country, still many industries prefer to use their captive power for uninterrupted supply. Together the new off-grid captive power and grid-connected power has pushed up the country’s total power generation capacity to 30,711 MW in 2023 from about 25,700 MW at the end of 2022. The officials said the import of 1600 MW from India’s Adani Group and setting up of a number of coal-based new power plants played a vital role in increasing power generation by 5000 MW in a single year. Although this capacity enhancement in power generation is a pleasing development on the face of it, especially given the country’s long history of struggle with power shortages, BPDB officials are also quick to point out that the growing surplus capacity would also lead to a rise in capacity payments, whereby IPPs get paid even for the electricity the government doesn’t need from them. They said that the new power plants being added to the grid were set up by the IPPs, or independent power producers (the private sector firms investing in the power sector, by building and often operating the plants), and the BPDB has an obligation to purchase power from them - to not let their investment go to waste or end in loss. Having them exit the power sector due to losses would be a bigger blow to BPDB's long-term vision. The increasing burden of capacity payments may pinch the government, as well as the consumer, harder if the dollar crisis prevailing in the country persists. According to the Centre for Policy Dialogue, a Dhaka-based think tank, capacity payments to private, rental, and quick rental power plants have increased from Tk 5,376 crores in FY2017 to as high as an estimated Tk 28,000 crores in FY 2023. In 2024, surplus electricity generation capacity is projected to rise to 50 percent from the existing 40 percent, as the country’s peak hour demand is about 16,000 MW, according to a top BPDB official. It would mean even at peak demand, half the plants would be surplus to requirements, and thus lie idle. Official sources recently said that the power and energy sectors of Bangladesh have been hit by severe cash crunch, especially the US dollars, piling up a huge backlog in payment of their import bills. According to official sources, the sectors’ 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 of dollar. We’re not getting dollars from Bangladesh Bank as per our needs,” he told UNB in a recent interview. Read more: Govt working on as how to use hydrogen, ammonia for power generation: Nasrul Hamid

The country’s overall power generation, combining grid capacity and off-grid (mainly captive) power, increased by about 5000MW in 2023 to reach a new benchmark of 30,700MW, although with demand failing to keep up, this is expected to lead to higher capacity payments for the government. This is disclosed in available data from the state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) and Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (Sreda). The BPDB data shows that of the 5000MW new power generation, some 3,343MW was added to the national grid by the import electricity from India and production from newly set up local power plants while about 1400MW came from off-grid captive and off-grid solar power. Power, energy sectors are saddled with $5 billion outstanding payment amid dollar crisis: Sources It also shows that the country’s installed grid-connected power generation capacity has reached to 25,951 MW on December 30 in 2023 from 22,608 MW in 2022 showing a capacity enhancement of 3343 MW. Beyond the national grid, as per BERC data, the captive power generation has increased by 1379MW to reach 4760 MW in 2023 from 3,381MW in 2022. The captive power plants were mainly set up by industries for their own consumption to get uninterrupted power supply as the grid power does not guarantee uninterrupted supply. Govt approves import of 40 MW power from Nepal Sources in the power sector said that despite more than 40 percent surplus power generation in the country, still many industries prefer to use their captive power for uninterrupted supply. A huge number of applications remain pending with the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) to set up more captive plants. The power generation from non-conventional, or renewable sources also witnessed an increase in 2023. The Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (Sreda) statistics show that the solar power generation capacity reached 1200MW in 2023 from 700MW in 2022. Of the 1200 MW, the off grid is 366.76 MW while ongrid is 601.02 MW. However, the country’s hydroelectric capacity of 230 MW is included in the Sreda statistics. Together the new off-grid captive power and grid-connected power has pushed up the country’s total power generation capacity to 30,711 MW in 2023 from about 25,700 MW at the end of 2022. BPDB officials said that the import of 1600 MW from the Adani Group’s plant for Bangladesh in Godda, Jharkhand, has played a major role in increasing the power generation capacity of the country. Apart from the import, the commercial operations of a number of base-load power plants played a significant role in raising power generation capacity. Read more: Power, energy sectors are saddled with $5 billion outstanding payment amid dollar crisis: Sources These new power plants include 600 MW second unit of Rampal Power Plant, and 1200 MW Banshkhali power plant of S Alam Group. There is also a 200 MW Solar power plant in Khulna by Orion Group. Although this capacity enhancement in power generation is a pleasing development on the face of it, especially given the country’s long history of struggle with power shortages, BPDB officials are also quick to point out that the growing surplus capacity would also lead to a rise in capacity payments, whereby IPPs get paid even for the electricity the government doesn’t need from them. They said that the new power plants being added to the grid were set up by the IPPs, or independent power producers (the private sector firms investing in the power sector, by building and often operating the plants), and the BPDB has an obligation to purchase power from them - to not let their investment go to waste or end in loss. Having them exit the power sector due to losses would be a bigger blow to BPDB's long-term vision. The increasing burden of capacity payments may pinch the government, as well as the consumer, harder if the dollar crisis prevailing in the country persists. According to the Centre for Policy Dialogue, a Dhaka-based think tank, capacity payments to private, rental, and quick rental power plants have increased from Tk 5,376 crores in FY2017 to as high as an estimated Tk 28,000 crores in FY 2023. In 2024, surplus electricity generation capacity is projected to rise to 50 percent from the existing 40 percent, as the country’s peak hour demand is about 16,000 MW, according to a top BPDB official. It would mean even at peak demand, half the plants would be surplus to requirements, and thus lie idle. Read more: AL Pledges to Expand Modern Urban Facilities to Every Village in Smart Bangladesh

The power and energy sectors of Bangladesh have been hit by severe cash crunch, especially the US dollars, piling up a huge backlog in payment of their import bills, official sources said this week. According to official sources, the sectors’ 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 of dollar. We’re not getting dollar from Bangladesh Bank as per our needs,” he told UNB this week. He noted that the power and energy sectors need at least $1 billion a month to meet payment obligations. "But we’re just getting less than half of that,” he said, adding, “As a result, cumulative outstanding is rising every month”.     Read: JICA to assist govt in preparing power distribution plan for Dhaka Sources said that the two main state-owned organisations' energy sector – Petrobangla and Bangladesh Petroleum Corporations have to spend huge amounts to import primary fuels like crude and refined petroleum and liquefied natural gas (LNG) from abroad. Petrobangla also needs to pay foreign gas companies like Chevron to purchase natural gas to meet the local demands. All are paid in foreign currencies. Similarly, the state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) has to purchase electricity from independent power producers (IPPs) in dollars. In addition, it has to import 2500 MW of electricity from India of which 1500 MW is coming from Adani power plant. Sources familiar with the situation said that under the existing arrangement, the BPDB pays some large IPPs like SS Power, Payra, Rampal and Adani in foreign currency while the other IPPs are paid in local currency but they are allowed to convert the payment in foreign currency as deals’ obligation. Read: Govt approves import of 40 MW power from Nepal “Each day we need at least 40 million US dollars from Bangladesh Bank to meet our payment obligation. But we’re getting 5-7 million dollars a day”, a top official of the BPDB told UNB, wishing anonymity as he is not authorised to talk to media. Officials at the Energy and Mineral Resources Division said the Petrobangla and BPC also need huge foreign currency, particularly the US dollar to continue its petroleum and gas imports and also to buy gas from foreign gas companies. According to BPC’s Annual Report, the total import of petroleum products was about 6.86 million metric tons and the total expenses of import was US$ 6 billion (equivalent to Tk 62,132.61 crore) in fiscal 2022-23. For the financial year 2023-24, the BPC planned to import more petroleum products than the previous fiscal, officials said.   Petrobangla has also to import over 5 million metric tons from Qatar Gas, Oman Trading, and the Spot market spending US$ 4.5 billion. It has also to pay US giant Chevron to buy gas from its three gas fields where unpaid bills now stand at $300 million due to backlog in payment. Nasrul Hamid said his ministry has regularly been negotiating with the Bangladesh Bank to get more dollar supply. “But the central bank only advises increasing the price of electricity, gas and petroleum which is not frequently possible for a political government”, he said. He also informed that his ministry was planning to receive a loan from Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) to ease the situation. “But the central bank is not supporting the idea”, he added. END/UNB/SH/F Read more: Still 7.64 percent consumers have to bribe in getting electricity connections: Survey