Comprehensive plan to raise power supply being drafted

---

M Azizur Rahman
The Power Division is drafting a comprehensive plan to increase power supply in the country by exploring all possible avenues to meet the mounting demand for electricity.
"Installing new coal-fired power plants, importing electricity from power-surplus neighbouring countries and setting up a nuclear power plant are among the prime options the division is taking into consideration for augmenting electricity generation," a senior Power Division official told the FE.
He said cross-border exchange of electricity during off-peak and peak hours and establishing joint venture power plant projects with the neighbouring countries are also in the division's planned strategy.
The potencies of renewable energy such as solar power, wind power and power generation from solid wastes would also be explored to enhance electricity generation, the power division official said.
Sources said the power division under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR) has initiated the plan as the uncertainty of getting natural gas for generating electricity looms large.
Besides, the Energy and Mineral Resources Division (EMRD) has already stated its inability to provide natural gas to new power plants beyond 2011.
Currently more than 80 per cent of the country's power plants are gas fired.
By 2010 a good number of new gas-fired power plants are planned for installation by the power division.
The power division will set different targets of generating electricity in varied timeframes under the comprehensive plan.
Elaborating the components of the comprehensive plan the power division sources said the planned new coal-fired power plants would be installed in the country's southwestern and southeastern region where gas availability is scarce.
The coal-fired power plants would be set up near the Mongla and Chittagong port areas to facilitate transportation of coal to the project sites, power division sources said further.
"Country's coalmines could be the sources of fuel for generating electricity," he said, adding, "if necessary the government will import coal to run the coal-fired power plants."
Currently the country has a lone coal-fired power plant at Barapukuria having the generation capacity of 250 megawatts (MW).
But huge coal reserves in a number of coalmines could be potential sources of fuel for electricity generation.
Regarding import of electricity the government is already in talks with Myanmar, said power division sources.
A high-powered government body already visited Yangon to hold preliminary discussions in this regard.
Another follow-up team will visit Myanmar November this year to conduct a pre-feasibility study.
The government will propose to set up a hydropower plant in Myanmar under joint venture and import electricity from there if found viable, he said.
On the plan of installing nuclear power plant, power division sources said the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) has already informed the government of having the potentials of setting up two nuclear power plants having the total generation of 1,000 MW at Rooppur in Pabna.
Besides a proposal is already in place to facilitate exchanging of electricity with West Bengal of India.
India also proposed for setting up a 1100 MW gas-fired power plant in Assam under a joint venture with Bangladesh.