Shifting towards coal for power generation

Even a decade ago, it was unimaginable to think of a hot day without power outages. Load-shedding used to be a household word. The word had, however, started to fade from our memory since 2018 when the interruption of power supply became almost non-existent in urban areas. But those rosy days are now gone. And load-shedding is back again.

People across the country including capital Dhaka have been experiencing severe power cuts multiple times a day in the past few days. Some people are even experiencing load-shedding for five times a day. Every time it lasts for more than 30 minutes. Villagers are suffering power cuts six to seven times a day on an average. Each time it takes an hour to three hours before power comes back. If this continues, we are back to square one. The authorities concerned blamed a shortage of natural gas supply for this situation.

The only solution to the load-shedding conundrum, in my view, is to formulate a long-term plan for producing power. We should consider making coal a primary energy source for electricity generation. Shifting towards coal will cut electricity costs across the economy, and the cheaper energy would raise incomes for households and businesses.

Abu Elias Linkon,

Banasree, Dhaka,

lightening_sparkle@yahoo.com