The official stated that the most of the Bangladesh’s electricity shortfall is provided from the power plants built by private companies, which are selected by the government through competitive bidding.
A.S.M. Alamgir Kabir, the head of the Bangladesh Power Development Board, said: “The government has approved the BDT410 billion (six billion dollar) plan. We will now interact with private companies and invite tenders next month (to build a number of power plants). Our target is to get rid of power shortages by 2014.”
The World Bank and the Asian Development Banks stated that only 40% of Bangladesh’s 144 million people have access to power, which is a big drag on the country’s bid to attain double-digit growth.
The central bank says that at peak periods, the factories are forced to halt production for at least three hours due to power crisis.
Kabir revealed that most of the power production comes from coal, diesel and furnace fuel, ending the country’s long reliance on natural gas.
Kabir said: “We’ll build four big coal-based power plants with capacity around 650MW. The rest will be generated by using diesel and furnace oil. We will have an option for gas but there is no guarantee for supply.”
Bangladesh, a hydrocarbon-rich nation, had proven gas reserves of 15.37 trillion cubic feet, which is enough to last until 2025. The government has stopped the supply of gas to hundreds of factories, while around six power plants cannot commence operation due to lack of gas supply.
Kabir, added: “We’re shifting our focus to coal from gas as the country has several high-class coal mines in the north. We may initially have to import coal, but in the long-term, our mines can supply our entire needs.”
