Energy prices to go up soon, says Tawfiq

FE Report | Published: September 15, 2018 22:50:34

Prime Minister's energy adviser Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury on Saturday said that gas prices might go up soon after the announcement of a new tariff structure by the energy regulator.
"But we want the prices to be adjusted upward in phases so that it remains affordable and rational," he said.
Mr Chowdhury made the remarks at a seminar on "Net Metering: Opportunities and Challenges," jointly organised by the Forum for Energy Reporters Bangladesh (FERB) and Solar Module Manufacturers Association of Bangladesh (SMMAB) at the National Press Club in the city.
He said re-gasified LNG has already entered the piped-distribution system after the successful docking of the FSRU (floating, storage, re-gasification unit).
Currently around 280-290 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of LNG is being consumed by clients, which was around 100 mmcfd initially.
The FSRU's full capacity of around 500 mmcfd could be supplied after the successful river crossing of an under-construction 40-inch diameter Anowara-Fouzdarhat pipeline, he said.
The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) held public hearings over the tariff hike proposals of state-run gas transmission, marketing and distribution companies for almost doubling gas tariff for all types of consumers except households back in June.
Mr Chowdhury was hopeful about net metering, saying that the new concept would prove effective soon.
Net metering is a mechanism that allows producers and consumers of renewable energy to connect their renewable energy output to a distribution network for maximum utilisation.
The government has planned to ensure electricity supply of around 9,000 megawatts (MW) from renewable energy sources by 2030 when the overall generation target would be around 40,000 MW, said Mr Chowdhury.
The government has also been working on importing significant quantity of electricity from neighbouring countries including India, Bhutan and Nepal, he noted.
Electricity import from India has already reached around 1,150 MW.
The difference in time zone is poised to be a national battery for renewable energy and electricity could be traded easily among the neighbouring countries utilising the time difference, he said.
Bangladesh has scarcity of electricity during summer, when there are abundance of electricity in Bhutan and Nepal, he added.
Power Cell director general Mohammad Hossain said net metering could be a good business model.
Chaired by FERB chairman Arun Karmakar, the seminar was addressed among others by SMMAB president Munawar Misbah Moin, president of Solar Association of Bangladesh Abdul Halim Mridha, executive director of Northern Electric Company Ltd (NESCO) Abdus Sobur, FERB vice chairman Mohammad Azizur Rahman and Reuters Bureau chief Sirajul Islam Quadir.
FERB executive director Sadrul Hasan moderated the seminar.
Azizjst@yahoo.com