State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid has said the government's emphasis is now on increasing the share of renewable energy in total power generation.

"We have targeted to generate 10 percent of electricity from renewable energy," he said while addressing a webinar on power sector development, organised by Cumilla University yesterday.

He said the country currently generates 628 MW of electricity from renewable energy sources.

"Now 97 percent people have access to electricity while 5.8 million solar home systems have been installed to reach electricity to the people living in off-grid areas," he said.

Nasrul said the development in power sector is being carried out in line with the masterplan prepared with the help of Japanese donor agency JICA in 2010 and revised in 2016.

"Short-, medium- and long-term plans were included for all the segments of power sector in the masterplan and those were prepared considering the country's economic growth," he told the participants in the webinar, mainly students of the university.

Bangladesh is now importing 1,160 MW of electricity from India while negotiations have been completed to import 500 MW electricity from Nepal, he said, informing that the government is trying to use unconventional technology to explore natural gas in the country.

Nasrul said the country's gas production is now 2,750 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) while 600 mmcfd gas is being imported as LNG.  

Assistant professor of Cumilla University Krishna Kumar Saha conducted the webinar.