Govt to meet energy demand of Ctg region by LNG
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
M Azizur Rahman
The government will meet the energy demand of the port city Chittagong and its adjoining areas by liquefied natural gas (LNG) as the energy-starved region was struggling to get natural gas supplies for years, officials said Tuesday.
"We have decided that the entire energy demands of Chittagong and its surrounding areas would be met by LNG due to limited scope for natural gas supplies in the region," Petrobangla chairman Hussain Monsur told the FE Tuesday.
He said to facilitate LNG import in Bangladesh the government will soon seek investments worth US$1.0 billion from the global firms to build an LNG terminal near the country's largest sea port in Chittagong.
Construction of a 10-12 kilometre pipeline would also be required to bring LNG from sea to shore before its processing.
A slew of industrial units in Chittagong, which have already invested massively in their projects in and around the port city, could not start operation for long due to lack of gas.
Electricity generation in Rauzan and Shikalbaha power plants and production at Karnaphuli Fertiliser Company (Kafco) and Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Limited (CUFL) are being hampered badly due to the gas supply crunch.
Currently the Bakhrabad Gas Systems Ltd (BGSL), the state-owned authority to provide gas connections in Chittagong and the adjoining areas, is supplying around 270 mmcfd of gas to Chittagong region, while the demand is around 400 mmcfd.
Vice-president of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) Mahbub Alam welcomed the government move to meet Chittagong's energy demand by LNG.
"We have been suffering a lot since 2007. Our industrial expansion has been halted due to the unforeseen gas crisis," Alam said, adding the government should select the priority factories impartially.
A good number of industrial units inside and outside the export processing zone (EPZ) including soybean refinery, paper mills, garment and textile plants and CNG filling stations, have invested at least Tk 10 billion and are counting interest every month for failing to go into operation in due time, the CCCI leader added.
To quicken construction of the LNG terminal the state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) has intended to provide off-take guarantee to the contractor for consuming at least 3.5 million tonnes of LNG (equivalent to 500 mmcfd of gas) every year through the LNG terminal to run gas-fired power plants, BPDB Chairman ASM Alamgir Kabir told the FE.
A number of gas-fired power plants having the generation capacity of around 1000 megawatts (mw) of electricity remained out of operation only due to gas crisis, he said.
Currently the BPDB is consuming around 700 million cubic feet of gas per day (mmcfd) from the state-owned Petrobangla but the demand is at least 200 mmcfd more, said the BPDB top brass.
Gas demand in power plants would reach beyond 1,300 mmcfd by 2014 to meet the soaring demands in power plants, Mr Kabir added.
The LNG terminal will be crucial for the port city as the existing capacity constraints of the country's transmission pipelines bar carrying of required quantity of natural gas to southeastern Chittagong from the energy rich northeastern region, said the Petrobangla chairman.
"The Ashuganj-Bakhrabad gas pipeline does not have the capacity to carry gas beyond 185 mmcfd from northeastern region to the southeastern Chittagong," said the Petrobangla chairman.
This pipeline is currently carrying around 170 mmcfd of gas.
The sharp decline in natural gas output from the country's lone offshore Sangu gas field also prompted the government to consider building the LNG terminal in the port city.
The Sangu gas field is now supplying only around 40 mmcfd of gas to Chittagong, which was as high as 220 mmcfd several years ago, the Petrobangla chairman added.
Sangu is experiencing pressure drop day by day and the experts predict the field will be out of operation by next two years.
Delay in installing a number of gas compressors in the national gas grid also sharpened the crisis, he added.
The government will meet the energy demand of the port city Chittagong and its adjoining areas by liquefied natural gas (LNG) as the energy-starved region was struggling to get natural gas supplies for years, officials said Tuesday.
"We have decided that the entire energy demands of Chittagong and its surrounding areas would be met by LNG due to limited scope for natural gas supplies in the region," Petrobangla chairman Hussain Monsur told the FE Tuesday.
He said to facilitate LNG import in Bangladesh the government will soon seek investments worth US$1.0 billion from the global firms to build an LNG terminal near the country's largest sea port in Chittagong.
Construction of a 10-12 kilometre pipeline would also be required to bring LNG from sea to shore before its processing.
A slew of industrial units in Chittagong, which have already invested massively in their projects in and around the port city, could not start operation for long due to lack of gas.
Electricity generation in Rauzan and Shikalbaha power plants and production at Karnaphuli Fertiliser Company (Kafco) and Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Limited (CUFL) are being hampered badly due to the gas supply crunch.
Currently the Bakhrabad Gas Systems Ltd (BGSL), the state-owned authority to provide gas connections in Chittagong and the adjoining areas, is supplying around 270 mmcfd of gas to Chittagong region, while the demand is around 400 mmcfd.
Vice-president of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) Mahbub Alam welcomed the government move to meet Chittagong's energy demand by LNG.
"We have been suffering a lot since 2007. Our industrial expansion has been halted due to the unforeseen gas crisis," Alam said, adding the government should select the priority factories impartially.
A good number of industrial units inside and outside the export processing zone (EPZ) including soybean refinery, paper mills, garment and textile plants and CNG filling stations, have invested at least Tk 10 billion and are counting interest every month for failing to go into operation in due time, the CCCI leader added.
To quicken construction of the LNG terminal the state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) has intended to provide off-take guarantee to the contractor for consuming at least 3.5 million tonnes of LNG (equivalent to 500 mmcfd of gas) every year through the LNG terminal to run gas-fired power plants, BPDB Chairman ASM Alamgir Kabir told the FE.
A number of gas-fired power plants having the generation capacity of around 1000 megawatts (mw) of electricity remained out of operation only due to gas crisis, he said.
Currently the BPDB is consuming around 700 million cubic feet of gas per day (mmcfd) from the state-owned Petrobangla but the demand is at least 200 mmcfd more, said the BPDB top brass.
Gas demand in power plants would reach beyond 1,300 mmcfd by 2014 to meet the soaring demands in power plants, Mr Kabir added.
The LNG terminal will be crucial for the port city as the existing capacity constraints of the country's transmission pipelines bar carrying of required quantity of natural gas to southeastern Chittagong from the energy rich northeastern region, said the Petrobangla chairman.
"The Ashuganj-Bakhrabad gas pipeline does not have the capacity to carry gas beyond 185 mmcfd from northeastern region to the southeastern Chittagong," said the Petrobangla chairman.
This pipeline is currently carrying around 170 mmcfd of gas.
The sharp decline in natural gas output from the country's lone offshore Sangu gas field also prompted the government to consider building the LNG terminal in the port city.
The Sangu gas field is now supplying only around 40 mmcfd of gas to Chittagong, which was as high as 220 mmcfd several years ago, the Petrobangla chairman added.
Sangu is experiencing pressure drop day by day and the experts predict the field will be out of operation by next two years.
Delay in installing a number of gas compressors in the national gas grid also sharpened the crisis, he added.