State Minister for the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR) Nasrul Hamid Sunday pledged to adopt the long-pending National Coal Policy within the shortest possible time.
He also unveiled the government plan to adopt an appropriate Energy Policy for planned utilisation of the country's fast-depleting energy resources.
Mr Hamid was speaking at a function at state-owned Petrobangla in the city.
"We don't have enough natural gas reserves. We shall have to extract local coal and import the fossil fuel as well to meet demand-supply gap of energy," he said.
He also placed importance on providing the best services to the end users.
Petrobangla Chairman Dr Hussain Monsur and other senior officials took part in the discussion.
Earlier, in a seminar the state minister assured all of complying with world's best standards mitigating all concerns to build coal-fired power plants.
He said the government has a target to generate around 50 per cent of the country's total electricity from coal by 2030.
Mr Hamid was speaking at the seminar titled "Coal-fired power generation in Bangladesh: World's best practices," at Biddut Bhaban in the city.
Prime Minister's Energy Adviser Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury said the government will apply ultra-super critical technology to implement the 1,320 megawatts (MW) Rampal coal-fired power plant at Bagerhat in Khulna.
Bangladesh and India are jointly implementing the Rampal power plant project as environmental groups are opposing the project fearing hazards to the Sundarbans, a world heritage site declared by the UNESCO.
"The initial activities to save the Sundarbans have been done by keeping the power plant project in safe zone through papers. Now we shall implement it," Mr Chowdhury said.
The project would be implemented at the earliest as it has been put on the list of "fast-track" projects, he said.
Power Division under the MPEMR organised the seminar, while Power Secretary Monowar Islam presided over.
Dr. Anzuman Islam Kankon and Kazi Ahmed jointly delivered a keynote paper presentation during seminar, where senior power and energy ministry officials and environmentalists took part.
Director of the Department of Environment Sultan Ahmed said the environmental impact assessment has been done.
Follow-up actions like people's involvement, clearing due compensation, developing ports and infrastructure are now required.
Power secretary admitted the government's failure of building base-load power plants so far.
"But we have completed ground work. Implementation phase will begin now. We are now at the crossroad," he said.
Coal policy at shortest possible time: Hamid
FE Report | Published: February 03, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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