“ The country’s current peak power demand is 15,648 MW (April 19, 2028), but grid-connected capacity is 24,143 MW as of( may 15,2023) resulting in 8495 MW power plants sitting idle throughout the year which is 54.3% of the total demand”-Hasan Mehedi, Member Secretary(BWGED).
The 39th G7 summit will be held in Hiroshima, Japan from 19 to 21 May 2023. The world’s seven largest economy countries – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, The United Kingdom, The United States, and Japan, have agreed to phase out international financing of carbon-emitting coal projects by the end of 2021 and meet the goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050 from all fossil fuels under Paris agreement and agreed to stop investment. But the Japanese government and government agency JICA have kept these projects in the name of advanced technology
In front of the Khulna Press Club, a discussion was organized under the initiative of Bangladesh Working on External Debt (BWGED) and Coastal Livelihood and Environmental Action Network (CLEAN) on May 8, 2023. In the discussion, the speakers said that the developed countries of the world including Japan are putting the burden of debt on the shoulders of poor countries like us by investing in fossil fuels. As a result, the power plant has to pay 1,32,668.20 crore taka ( 16 billion dollars) in capacity charge(capacity remuneration). The award for the fiscal year 2022-23 will be around TK 23,000 crore taka ($2.12 billion).
Hasan Mehedi, Member Secretary, Bangladesh Working Group on External Debt. (BWGED) said, the Institute of energy economics, (IEEJ) stated that Bangladesh is currently preparing the integrated energy and power master plan (IEPMP) for Bangladesh with the assistance of Japan’s international cooperation agency (JICA) focusing on imported coal and liquefied natural gas. Bangladesh is facing a serious shortage of fossil fuels. The country’s current peak power demand is 15,648 MW (April 19, 2028), but grid-connected capacity is 24,143 MW as of( may 15,2023) resulting in 8495 MW power plants sitting idle throughout the year which is 54.3% of the total demand. The experts said to investing in solar and wind power to relieve from this crisis.
Speakers also stated that the planned IEPMP has the impact of bringing unreliable imported liquid hydrogen ammonia and carbon conservation technology in the guise of improved clean energy technology, which is destructive to the country’s economy. In addition, the draft plan calls for using 17.1% of renewable energy by 2050, compared to 32.8% of so-called sophisticated technologies, 30.7% of fossil fuels (mostly coal and LNG), and 30.7% of renewable energy.
Bangladesh has a lot of potential in developing renewable energy projects. This requires proper planning and investment. According to the Bangladesh sustainable and renewable energy development authorities’ draft solar energy plan, there is enough space to install 25,000 to 40,000 MW of solar power plants by 2041. Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan (MCPP) in September 2021, and on 27 February 2023, the Cabinet approved it to implement. MCPP targets implementing 30% Renewable Energy in the energy mix by 2030, 50% by 2041, and 100% by 2050.
