Govt mulls import of 40pc power to meet demand by 2050

The government is mulling import of 40 per cent of the electricity from abroad for meeting around

85,000 MW of projected electricity demand by 2050.

The revised Integrated Energy and Power Master Plan (IEPMP) has a plan to produce around 85,000 MW of

electricity of which 38,000 MW of electricity would come from renewable sources for meeting the

projected electricity demand by this time.

"With the dedicated transmission line, we want to build large-scale power connectivity with Nepal,

Bhutan and India.  We are installing a separate dedicated power transmission line to bring 1,600 MW of

electricity from Jharkhand in India.  All these projects would  help us to get energy without much

hassle," State Minister Nasrul Hamid said.

Currently, Bangladesh imports 1,160 MW of power from India through Baharampur-Bheramara and Tripura-

Cumilla cross-border grid lines.

On  March 15 of 2021, government engaged the Tokyo-based consulting firm to prepare the Integrated

Master Plan to focus on more greener or renewable sources. However, it revised its plan twice by this

time.

The country needs higher power cross-border transmission lines as it has a target of increasing the

share of imported electricity up to 40 per cent by 2050 in the energy mix when the total generation

capacity will reach 85,000 MW. We are in talk with Nepal, Bhutan and India, we expressed our interest

in developing hydropower projects in Nepal, the State Minister said.

"The country to generate 26 per cent of electricity from natural gas, 10 per cent from hydro, each

five per cent from ammonia, nuclear and liquid fuel, 9 per cent from coal and the rest 40 per cent

would come from electricity import from the neighbouring countries," a senior official said preferring

anonymity.

At present, the country generates 52 per cent of electricity from natural gas, 32 per cent from liquid

fuel and 8 per cent from coal, while the rest 8 per cent of electricity comes from imports.

 "We also define the sources of the 38,000 MW of electricity (what we mentioned would come from the

renewable sources), our plan is to generate 20,000 MW of electricity from wind, 12,000 MW from rooftop

solar panel and 6,000 from solar," Power Cell DG Mohammad Hossain said.

Bangladesh's promise to produce 40 per cent of the country's energy from the clean sources has opened

a new space for the investors to focus on greener and more profitable investment opportunities by

turning investment away from coal to renewable energy, he earlier said.

In 2020, gas accounted for the majority of Bangladesh's electricity production (around 70 per cent),

while coal accounted for about 5 per cent. The shares of renewables such as wind, hydropower and solar

PV in the electricity mix were quite small, fluctuating from around 6 per cent in 2000 to 2 per cent

in 2010, and then to 1.4 per cent in 2020.

Currently, the country's power generation capacity is about 22,395 MW, of which about 50 per cent of

power (10,869 MW) is being generated from gas while less than 10 per cent (1,768 MW) is from coal and

about 30 per cent of power is generated from imported liquid fuel.