Govt to adjust natural gas tariff in phases

The natural gas tariff would be adjusted in phases to cope with the import of expensive LNG (liquefied natural gas) for meeting mounting domestic demand, Prime Minister's energy adviser Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury said on Wednesday.

The imported re-gasified LNG would be supplied by July 15 next as the technical bottlenecks have been removed, he said.

The country imported the first consignment of LNG from Qatar's RasGas on April 24.

But the complexities in tie-up and 'synchronisation' of the floating, storage and re-gasification unit (FSRU) with subsea pipeline have held up the supply of re-gasified LNG to consumers since then, he added.

Mr Chowdhury was speaking as the chief guest at the opening session of a day-long strategic energy sector dialogue on, "Determining Bangladesh's Energy Infrastructure Needs for Today and Tomorrow," in a city hotel.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh (PRI) jointly organised the event aiming to deliberate on the country's energy infrastructure requirements in the coming years, and facilitate the country's move towards a low carbon energy system.

Three key issues - Addressing Energy Security, Building a Resilient Transmission & Distribution Infrastructure and Moving to a Low Carbon and Renewable Energy Future - were the crux of discussions in the dialogue.

PRI Panel Chairman Dr Zaidi Sattar and Executive Director Dr Ahsan Mansur delivered keynote papers in the dialogue.

Speakers underscored the necessity for improved domestic sources, necessary foreign capital, and efficient debt financing to ensure the country's sustainable energy security.

Bangladesh will have to invest cumulatively around US$120 billion in power sector by 2041, of which $100 billion for electricity generation and $20 billion for upgrading electricity transmission and distribution systems, they said.

Liberalisation of generation, domestic trade, transmission, distribution and marketing of electricity would be required to improve efficiency, they added.

Taping regional electricity potentials and diversifying primary energy resources are of utmost necessity, the discussants noted.

Existing gap between installed capacity to the tune of around 18,000 megawatt (MW) and generation of around 11,000 MW is a major concern, they stated.

Generating electricity from renewable energy sources at affordable rate is also a challenge to ensure the presence of clean power in the generation basket, they added.

Speaking on the occasion, the discussants also sought increased financial support from the AIIB for increased electricity generation, and improved transmission and distribution system.

The AIIB has so far invested in three energy projects in Bangladesh covering electricity generation, natural gas and electricity transmission and distribution.

The AIIB vice president, policy and strategy, Joachim Von Amsberg assured to provide further investment in the country's energy and power sector.

Bangladesh is a founding member of the AIIB, he said, adding, "We shall love to invest further here."

This energy dialogue was necessary to understand key issues of Bangladesh, which, he said, would help the AIIB to decide on future funding in the necessary fields of the country's power and energy sectors, he added.

Finance division secretary Muslim Chowdhury, Power Secretary Ahmad Kaikaus, Power Cell director general Mohammad Hossain, Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA) chairman Helal Uddin among, others, spoke on the occasion.

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