Business Desk :
Responding to the suggestions of energy experts, Bangladesh is finally moving towards formulating an integrated energy and power sector master plan with a focus on the “3E+S” concept.
“We’ll pursue the “3E+S” concept of ensuring “Energy Security,” “Economic Efficiency,” and “Environment” while focusing on “Safety,” said the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in an official statement, adding, “In view of the need for a long-term low-carbon energy policy, we will support the formulation of the integrated energy and power master plan.”
Citing official sources UNB reported that the Tokyo-based consulting firm Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ), has started work following an agreement the Bangladesh government signed with JICA on March 15 this year in this regard.
Official sources said JICA will complete the formulation of the integrated energy and power master plan by December 2022 under a completion contract of a timeframe of 30 months.
JICA has been funding the entire project through its grant under a deal with the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR).
It had provided financial and technical support for formulating all the previous power system master plans (PSMPs) until 2016, report UNB.
According to official sources at the MPEMR, for decades, Bangladesh had prepared two separate master plans-one for the energy sector and another for the power sector-where there had been many missing links and lack of coordination resulting in an imbalance between the energy and power sector’s growth.
“But for the first time, we’re going to formulate an integrated master plan putting equal emphasis on the development of both the sectors in order to support the current robust economic growth,” said Mohammad Hossain, Director General of Power Cell.
In the context of imbalanced growth in power and energy sectors in the last one and a half decades, the country’s energy experts have long been urging the government to formulate an integrated plan to bring coordination among the two.
In the last 12-13 years, the country’s power sector witnessed robust growth with increased power generation from 4,500 MW to 21,000 MW while growth in the energy sector remained non-significant as a new discovery was not made for gas exploration nor low cost primary fuel was ensured.
Officials said Bangladesh has to now import a significant amount of primary fuel, especially liquid petroleum, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and coal-to meet the demand of the power and industry sector.
