Govt plans phasing-out of fossil fuel, phasing-in of renewable energy

Bangladesh is set to formulate an integrated energy and power master plan (IEPMP) to fulfill its commitment to phase out fossil-fuel-based generation system to cleaner electricity, focusing on renewable energy, energy efficiency and a rational pricing formula to introduce sustainable tariff.
To share the government idea, the 29-member Steering Committee preparing the IEPMP will sit with the stakeholder of power and energy sector tomorrow (November 23) to review the existing Power Sector Master Plan 2016 and discuss all aspects of the proposed IEPMP with a focus on generating 40 per cent of electricity from renewable energy sources.
Earlier, the government planned to formulate the integrated energy and power master plan (IEPMP) focusing on a long-term low-carbon energy policy for economic development and energy demand forecast by 2050.
Prime Minister's Energy Adviser Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury will preside over the meeting, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid, Principle Secretary to the Prime Minister Dr Ahmed
    Kaikaus, Secretaries for the Ministry of Power and Energy Division, Energy and Power Experts, senior officials, leaders from business apex bodies, common people, different forum leaders will share their idea at the stakeholders meeting at Bidyut Bhaban.
"Our Prime Minister is committed to reduce carbon emission, in CoP26 meeting, she announced that Bangladesh is on transition to clean power by gradual phase-out of fossil fuel and phase-in of renewable energy, we are working on it, to corporate the stakeholders views here, we sit will together on November 23 and talk openly," Power Cell DG Mohammad Hossain told the Daily Observer on Sunday.
He said this is the first open meeting with the stakeholders. "We will address the limitations of the previous plans here and should aim to reduce excess installed capacity in a phased manner and transition to clean power by gradual phasing-out of fossil fuel and phasing-in of renewable energy.
Earlier, the government formed the committee to look into the work on IEPMP under which two separate technical working committee called Power System Development committee (21-member) and Energy data Management committee (25-member) has been formed.
"We are focusing on the "3E+S" concept, '3E+S' concept stands for ensuring 'Energy Security', 'Economic Efficiency', and 'Environment' while "S" stands for 'Safety' issues," Power Cell DG Mohammad Hossain said.
Earlier, the country had set a target to generate 10 per cent electricity from renewable sources by 2020, but it could not achieve over 3 per cent of it.
The government formed a 29-member Steering Committee to look into the work of PEMP. Under which two separate technical working committees called Power System Development committee and Energy data Management committee has been formed.
On March 15 in 2021, government and JICA signed an agreement to complete the formulation of the integrated energy and power master plan, which is the first of its kind, by December 2022 under a completion contract of a timeframe of 30 months.
"For the first time, we're going to formulate an integrated master plan putting equal emphasis on development of both the sectors in order to support the current robust economic growth," the Director General of Power Cell said.   
In the existing power system master plan (PSMP) 2016, about 60,000 MW of power generation was targeted by 2041 in which primary fuel mix set at 70 per cent coming from coal and gas while the remaining 30 per cent will be covered by liquid fuel, renewable, nuclear and other sources.
The new IEPMP must address this by prioritizing grid investments so that better use can be made of existing capacity, however, the main challenges in power sector includes  excess capacity, huge capacity payment, inefficiency, the use of expensive energy, and a higher financial burden. And the energy sector is facing serious challenges because no government likes to address the sector in proper manner in terms of gas exploration issue.