Reducing use of imported LNG

At a time when Bangladesh's overdependence on import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) poses a threat to power generation and industrial production, a study by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) suggests how the import parameter can be reduced substantially. According to the IEEFA study, the country can reduce its import by 21 per cent and in the process save $460 million a year. By replacing the ageing, inefficient and gas-guzzling industrial captive power generators, such a gain can be achieved. The average efficiency of the existing generators at 35.38 per cent can be elevated to 45.2 per cent if the more efficient models of those are installed in their place. Significantly, use of waste heat recovery boilers and cooling devices can also save up to 50.18 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of gas a year. Waste heat recovery is the other name of energy efficiency by which heat energy is reused and not released into the atmosphere. Does it not make it a compelling case for keeping the industrial environment cooler?
Now question may be asked why the private captive power plants will go for investment when the ageing ones are still in service? They will do so for their own benefits, if not for a common cause of economy and environment. The investments to be made in the new and efficient models can be recouped within one and a half years to five years. Then the investment in waste heat recovery is returned within a year. After the recovery of the investment, it is nothing but an absolute long-term gain. Industrial units which have their backup captive power plants to continue uninterrupted production without solely relying on unreliable power supply from the national grid have every reason to opt for the new models. However, captive power plant companies supplying power to the national grid under a dubious deal may not feel the urgency to go for further investment for replacing the old and inefficient plants. They get fuels for operation of their plants at a subsidised rate.
Of the total generation capacity of 4,723 megawatts (MWs) of the captive power generators, 2,943 MWs come from gas-fired plants. The captive power plants of the country consumed 164.27 Bcf or 17.6 per cent of total gas the country used in 2022-23. So the economical use of the imported LNG is in the interest of all irrespective of its use in power generation at captive power plants or for other purposes. The captive power plants have long proved a bone in the government's and by extension the country's throat. It is time the contracts with those proving economic bleeding to the country were rescinded.
Now the recently completed thermal power plants cannot go to full operation because of shortage of coal, another type of fossil fuel that like liquid variants is a source of pollution. But it will be quite long before the country can shift to green energy. In the meantime, it would be wise to go for energy efficiency to the maximum and in all possible areas. The IEEFA-suggested economised LNG use is likely to prove highly beneficial for the country and the opportunity should be grabbed.