$10 billion needed annually to import primary fuel for power generation: CPD

Bangladesh will have to spend annually $10 billion to import primary fuel for the operation of the power plants, said the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) at the seminar today.

Each month it will need $833 million, the think tank said.

"This cost will go up to $20 billion in 2025 as the government has been pursuing an import-dependent energy policy," said energy expert Dr Izaj Hossain while addressing the seminar.

The CDP organised the seminar titled, "Challenges in the Energy and Power Sector. Can the proposed National Budget address those Challenges?", at a city hotel.

Making a presentation on the topic CPD Research Director Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem expressed apprehension that the ongoing power and energy crisis will be deepened in the coming days due to "the import-dependent wrong policies of the government".

He said though the government set a goal to generate 40 percent of electricity from renewable sources by 2041, there is no convincible programme in place to achieve that goal.

"Rather, now the goal has been changed saying that up to 40 percent of electricity will be generated from clean energy by 2041," he added.

The seminar was also addressed by Mostofa Azad Chowdhury Babu, FBCCI senior vice president, Prof Badrul Imam, of geology department at DU; Prof Dr M Shamsul Alam, dean of engineering faculty at Daffodil International University, Prof Khosru Md Selim, of electrical and electronic engineering at Independent University of Bangladesh.

Mostofa Azad Chowdhury Babu said many industries have been suffering from the acute gas and electricity crisis.

"Despite price escalation, industries have to experience 5-6 hours of load shedding every day," he said adding that the core problem of the dollar crisis for which primary fuels like LNG, furnace oil and coal are not being possible to import.

He said policymakers did not look into the production of primary fuels from domestic sources like coal and gas.

Prof Badrul Imam said an international consultant placed its recommendation for enhancement of gas production from the existing field. But the government totally ignored those recommendations and moved to import LNG to address the energy crisis.

Prof Izaj Hossain said Bangladesh should go for drilling at least 25 wells per year while it is drilling less than one.

Prof Shamsul Alam said the government was advised to create a price stabilisation fund to provide emergency funding support to the energy sector, but it did not follow.

Rather, it illegally used money from Gas Development Fund to import LNG violating the rule, he said.