Power generation capacity crosses 30,000MW in 2023

The overall power generation capacity in the country has witnessed a significant increase of around 5000MW in 2023, reaching a record high of 30,700MW, reports UNB.
However, the demand for electricity has not matched the growth according to available data from the state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) and Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (Sreda).
As a result, the government may need to make higher capacity payments, considering the combination of grid capacity and off-grid power (primarily captive power).
The BPDB data shows that of the 5000MW new power generation, some 3,343MW was added to the national grid by the import electricity from India and production from newly set up local power plants while about 1400MW came from off-grid captive and off-grid solar power.
It also shows that the country's installed grid-connected power generation capacity has reached to 25,951 MW on December 30 in 2023 from 22,608 MW in 2022 showing a capacity enhancement of 3343 MW.
Beyond the national grid, as per BERC data, the captive power generation has increased by 1379MW to reach 4760 MW in 2023 from 3,381MW in 2022.
The captive power plants were mainly set up by industries for their own consumption to get uninterrupted power supply as the grid power does not guarantee uninterrupted supply.
Sources in the power sector said that despite more than 40 per cent surplus power generation in the country, still many industries prefer to use their captive power for uninterrupted supply.
A huge number of applications remain pending with the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) to set up more captive plants.
The power generation from non-conventional, or renewable sources also witnessed an increase in 2023. The Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (Sreda) statistics show that the solar power generation capacity reached 1200MW in 2023 from 700MW in 2022.
Of the 1200 MW, the off grid is 366.76 MW while ongrid is 601.02 MW. However, the country's hydroelectric capacity of 230 MW is included in the Sreda statistics. Together the new off-grid captive power and grid-connected power has pushed up the country's total power generation capacity to 30,711 MW in 2023 from about 25,700 MW at the end of 2022.
BPDB officials said that the import of 1600 MW from the Adani Group's plant for Bangladesh in Godda, Jharkhand, has played a major role in increasing the power generation capacity of the country.