Govt raises funding requirement for zero loadshedding after 2010

---

FE Report
The government has raised the country's funding requirement by 58 per cent to US$9.5 billion from the previous $6.0 billion to streamline the country's ailing power sector and ensure 'zero' load-shedding after 2010 and onwards.
"The country will require investments worth US$ 10 billion in next five years until 2014 for the additional generation of electricity, its transmission and distribution to make Bangladesh free from load-shedding after December 2010," Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) Chairman ASM Alamgir Kabir said Tuesday.
"Out of the total investments, $7.0 billion will be required for electricity generation, $1.0 billion for transmission and $1.5 billion for distribution," the state-owned BPDB chairman told newsmen at a workshop in the Board's office.
The Power Division in July this year projected that the requirement would be around $6.0 billion.
"We had earlier projected lower investment requirements considering the option of tolerable load-shedding having sufficient gas supplies," Mr Kabir clarified.
If the country could arrange the required investment it would start getting surplus electricity generation from 2013.
The economic return out of this investment would be tremendous as the electricity supply could bring about revolutionary changes in industries, education, public health, he said.
Bangladesh would be able to attain double-digit growth, if it could improve infrastructural facilities including uninterrupted electricity supply, said the BPDB chairman.
Speaking in the workshop as the chief guest State Minister for Energy and Power Enamul Haque pledged to carry forward the power sector development works maintaining transparency and accountability.
"To ensure transparency we already have floated tenders for power plant projects online and have planned to make everything public," said Mr Haque.
The minister, however, underscored the necessity for rationalising the electricity tariff to help the stakeholders provide quality services to consumers.
The power entities should be run at least on 'no profit no loss basis,' he said.
Currently the BPDB is running with loss as it sells electricity to bulk consumers at Tk 2.45 per unit (one kilowatt per hour), whereas the generation cost is Tk 2.66 per unit.