State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR) Nasrul Hamid has stressed the need for extracting coal from domestic coal mines for its best utilisation against the backdrop of mounting energy demand.
"We must extract it no matter which method we adopt for its extraction," he said while speaking as the chief guest at a seminar at Biddyut Bhaban in the city Thursday.
Newly-constituted Power Energy Mineral Resources Development Centre (PEMRDC) organised the seminar, which was addressed by Chairman of the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) Shahinul Islam Khan and top officials of the Power Division under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR).
PEMRDC Chairman Mezbaur Rahman Tutul presented the keynote paper in the seminar titled, "Electricity Development: Domestic Coal - the main option."
Speaking on the occasion, the state minister said, the country does not have any option left as it has planned to implement a number of coal-fired power plants to ensure access to electricity for all by 2021.
He, however, identified dearth of necessary human resources as an impediment towards utilising local coal.
The country currently has huge coal deposits of around 3.0 billion tonnes in five coal mines but coal extraction is only limited to the Barapukuria coalmine, which has only 1.0 million tonne extraction capacity per year.
The government has not yet finalised the national policy, which has held up utilisation of local coal for long.
Pointing to the government move for ensuring future energy security, Mr Hamid said that a tender would be floated soon to carry out seismic survey in offshore blocks.
A new bidding round would also be launched soon for carrying out hydrocarbon exploration there, he added.
Mr Hamid said the government has set a target to attain the status of middle-income country within 2021 and developed one by 2041.
With the implementation of different energy projects of the government, the country's gross domestic product (GDP) growth could be raised to around 8.0 per cent from existing average GDP growth of around 6.0 per cent for up-gradation of the country's economic status, said Mr Hamid.
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